


Too Nice

by Rizeru_chan



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-07 06:59:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5447417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rizeru_chan/pseuds/Rizeru_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jun made mistakes in the past and was determined not to make them again.</p><p>Key word: Was.</p><p>Past events replay in the present, confusion settles, and a certain person comes to top it all off.</p><p>Yet through it all, Minghao is still too nice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thanks, but No Thanks

It was Sunday, a normal day for everyone. Some people went to church, others went to the park. Some went to the Gym, and Jun, it was when he paid for a random person's meal.

Jun, famously known as Wen Junhui, was featured in the magazines for every day for a whole month. It went from the whole front cover to small sections on the back but his name had always been somewhere whether it be ' Another Monday, another charity saved ' and his name in the subtitles or ' Tuesday Tips with Wen Junhui '

He liked to give all the credit to his parents, though. They had always had wealth, and they spend it on good causes, Jun picked up on their habits easily at a young age.

It started the day they gave him his first allowance, first grade. He was given 25 dollars a week for lunch money and he had always bought food for those that didn't have any. If someone had asked him for a little bit of money, Jun would give them a little more and insist they use it all. He was always willing to give more than he asked for which made him popular with everyone, especially the gold diggers.

One man wouldn't allow it though he had always watched from afar and thought that Jun was foolish. Why was he giving out full meals to people that were fully capable of making their own and not noticing those taking advantage of him? Kwon Soonyoung didn't know why, nor did he want to know, he just wanted to help and stop this foolishness.

When they had first met, Jun was crying because some kids bullied him when he ran out of money to give. Soonyoung had walked up with no mercy, telling Jun that it was his fault.

"You're always giving out money, it's like you're just an ATM. They aren't going to treat you like anything else if you just give away your cash like that." Soonyoung had rested his hands on his hips and waited for Jun to stop crying.

"But my parents say that what I'm doing is good" Junhui wiped his tears away and looked up at Soonyoung with red eyes.

"It won't be good if you're crying like this. Here," Soonyoung held out his hand for Jun to take, "I'm Soonyoung and from now on, when you want to give money to people, or if people want to get money from you, they'll have to go through me!" He puffed his chest out and fisted the hands on his hips.

Jun stared at him for a while before grinning, "Okay," he said, "but your name is too long, I'm calling you... Hoshi. Is that okay?"

Soonyoung's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly. Jun shook hands with him in a silent agreement. "Your name is long too Junhui" he stretched out the syllables for emphasis, "I'll just call you Jun."

With their hands still connected, they shook on the new agreement.

Hoshi had kept his promise through the school year, telling Jun when to call it quits and when he was allowed to continue. As they grew older, Jun claimed himself smart enough to know the difference without Hoshi's help and the other had made a huge deal about it when he did so.

A sniffle, "Aw my baby boy is all grown up!"

Jun rolled his eyes and punched the other in the arm. "Shut up, I'm 22 and older than you." Jun flicked him in the forehead, making him pout and rub the spot tenderly.

As months without Hoshi's help passed, Jun slipped into his old lifestyle.

At 23, Jun had fallen in love with a man named Mingming. Mingming was amazing, someone that could hold on his own, and never asked for too much, or well, that's what he was like when he had first met Jun. Jun had met him on a regular Sunday and paid for his meal then left. Mingming had seen him and chased him out of the restaurant to pay him back.

"You can't pay for me like that and then just leave!" Mingming yelled at him and threw something at Jun's head to catch his attention.

Jun turned around and saw that the other had thrown his napkin. Jun laughed a little and stopped to face Mingming. "You threw your napkin at me?"

Mingming seemed to blush a little before taking the cloth back. "let me pay you back" he had gotten straight to the point and started digging through his pockets. Jun put his hand up and stopped him.

"Don't pay me back, I wanted to pay for you"

"Well, I didn't want you to pay for me. Let me do something in return." He challenged, Jun was surprised.

Being the flirt he was at the time he smirked, "Go on a date with me then, let's meet here at 11 tomorrow. You can repay me by showing up."

As they grew closer and started dating, Jun had spoiled him and he had grown used to it.

He had started asking Jun to buy him stuff, to give him money, to pay for all their meals and jun had done it without complaint because Mingming had always said sorry and thank you afterward. Over more time, Mingming began being bossy about it.

"Jun get me that."

"Jun I want that."

"Buy this for me."

"I took 100 bucks from your wallet to buy my friends food"

Jun had still done it without complaint, Hoshi figured out and warned him but it was too late, Jun had fallen in love and he couldn't climb back out. He had already been planning on asking Mingming to marry him.

He remembered how he asked perfectly. On their year anniversary, he had brought Mingming out to the restaurant he first paid for him.

"Why are we back here?" Mingming had been smiling the whole time knowing where this was heading. It has been a year and Jun had asked him what his finger size was. Jun was never good at hiding things from him.

"I just thought you would like to eat here again, you know, relive memories." Jun had been smiling as well. He dragged Mingming all the way into the restaurant and sat him down quickly.

They had eaten with lots of laughs about the past year. With memories of all the things, they've done. As Jun finished paying the check, he took Mingming's hands gently and kissed them just as softly.

"I remember the exact moment I started liking you." Jun had said seriously, but there was still a lightness in his voice. He looked up at Mingming to see him smiling, the light above them reflecting in his eyes.

"It was when you threw a napkin at me." Jun laughed and let go of Mingming's hands to pick up one of the napkins from the table, showing it to Mingming. The other was smiling at him and nodded.

"Since a napkin was the thing that put us together, I figured it should be something that keeps us together." Jun unraveled the napkin and showed a black, felt, box with golden rims. Mingming gasped even though he already knew.

"Will you marry me Yao Mingming?" Jun watched as tears of happiness rolled down his cheeks and fall to the floor when Mingming nodded. Jun smiled and wiped the tears away right before he connected their lips. Everyone in the restaurant cheered for them.

It was 2 years ago, 2 years since he got together with Mingming, half a year since the other ditched him at church. Jun sighed at the memory and made his way out of the apartment. Too much time alone in there always brought back the thought of Mingming. He grabbed his coat and made his way to the coffee shop Hoshi had told him about the other night.

"So I hear you're getting back into that old hobby, " Hoshi said from his kitchen. Jun tilted his head back to look at what he was doing when he saw all the ice cream tubs he had out and open he sighed.

"You're cleaning that, and what hobby are you talking about?" He turned his head back to the television, trying to focus on how paper towels were made while trying to figure out what Hoshi was saying.

"You're going out and paying for people's meals again

." Hoshi came back with a glass bowl of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cookie dough, and pistachio ice cream covered in what looked like a whole bottle of whip cream, cherries, sprinkles, cinnamon, and every cereal he could find in the pantry. He held out a spoon and watched Jun take a bite cautiously. "Good?" Jun nodded and took another bite.

"You were saying?" Jun brought it up again when Hoshi got too absorbed in the sundae.

"Oh yeah," the blond said with a full mouth. Jun cringed when he saw all the melted ice cream. "So since you're giving people free meals-"

"I'm not treating you to anything" Jun interrupted. Hoshi had as much money as he did, there wasn't anything the other couldn't pay for.

"I didn't want anything" Hoshi protested and took another bite.

"You may continue," Jun said in mock professionalism. When Hoshi gave him a straight face he gave the other what he wanted and apologized, bow and all. With a smile, Hoshi swallowed.

"Before you rudely accused me of wanting something from you" Jun rolled his eyes " I was saying, that you should go to this coffee shop around the corner. You could walk or take your car, depends on how quickly you wanna get there." He took another spoonful of the ice cream.

Jun dug his spoon into the ice cream mixture, trying to everything, before bringing the spoon towards his mouth at tasting it. The taste was tolerable. "Yeah sure"

Jun checked the directions on his phone, a 20-minute walk from his apartment, not too bad. It would be a waste of gas to drive since it was only a 3-minute drive. There were a few shops to pass by and the sidewalk was pretty busy but it wasn't anything Jun couldn't handle.

It was sunny and he found it slightly amusing that it was sunny on a Sunday. He watched children ask their parents for food in the carts and smiled when the parents tried to refuse but ended up paying for their child.

There were a lot of good people in the world, a lot of people that deserved a break from paying for everything and being in debt. If he could, he would pay for everyone, but even he can't do that, so he settled with paying extra some days, and paying for meals on others.

He looked at the outside, 'Q&A Cafe', he pursed his lips before he opened the glass doors. He watched as they closed gently, he didn't want to cause a disturbance. He looked around, there weren't a lot of people there, they had a lot of empty tables and he saw some of the workers laying back and chatting with each other. He walked up to the counter and thrummed his fingers on the counter top.

One of the workers noticed and called a name. Jun smiled at the worker before he disappeared into the back room. A man with pink hair got shoved out and he grumbled all the way to the counter. Jun was a little nervous to be ordering something, the guy was short, but seemed to be in a bad mood and Jun was pretty sure he would lose in a fight with him. The name tag said to call him Woozi but Jun decided against it.

"What would you like to order?" The voice came. Jun stuttered and panicked, looking for a menu to order from. The worker sighed and Jun apologized. "It's fine, take this, and get back in line when you're ready to order, there are people behind you so please get out of line and let them order."

Jun turned around to see a couple standing there, they weren't looking at each other. One was looking at the menu above the counter like Jun should have been doing, and the other was looking around for a good spot to sit. The one looking above the counter was taller, wearing a thin coat over a white shirt and ripped blue jeans while the one looking around was wearing a black beanie, a matching white shirt, and simple black pants. Jun wasn't sure why he studied them, but he guessed it was from the fact they were linking arms and he couldn't help but find it cute.

He quickly got out of line so they could order, they have most likely been there before, judging by the way the taller of the couple excitedly started talking to the worker. Jun watched for a bit more, the corners of his lips turned up when he saw the one with the beanie punch the taller because of what he said. He chuckled lowly and finally brought his eyes down to the menu.

In a fancy cursive writing, Jun guessed that it said 'Q&A Cafe' at the top where several lace patterns were drawn. His eyes roamed down the list and stopped at the title 'Honey Tea' he thinned his lips to a line and wondered if he should pay for both himself and another person or just pay for the person. Curious about the taste of their honey tea, he chose the former.

His feet made their way towards the counter again and the worker managed to smile this time. Jun thought that if he had smiled more, there would be a lot more customers. He checked the menu one more time as he was handing it back and saw that customers had to pay for the internet, another factor as to why not a lot of people go to the cafe. It wasn't too expensive, though, a dollar an hour, it seemed reasonable to Jun.

"What would you like to order?" He asked. Jun panicked again, afraid that if he messed up the other was going to hit him with something.

"Honey Tea" he managed to get out before Woozi did something or changed his expression. The pink hair bobbed as Woozi nodded and typed something into the computer, causing a blinking blue price to appear. '3.22' the machine read. Jun fished out a 20 dollar bill and handed it to the other. When he saw the change being taken out of the register he acted on impulse and stopped the hand with his own. He felt the glare from the other and quickly took his hand back, patting himself down.

He made eye contact with the other and quickly tried to explain the situation as clear as possible. "I-I-I just... I didn't need you to t-take the change out." The eyes narrowed further and Jun swallowed, regretting everything wrong he had done in his life. "I wanted to pay for someone, you can choose, I'll pay for everything, and you can keep the change if there is any." He sputtered out. Woozi eyed him for a second longer before closing the register. He ripped the receipt and gave it to Jun, telling him the drink will be out on the other side of the counter.

A bit shaken, Jun made it to the other side. He took deep breaths and tried to calm down his nerves. A worker came up to the opening and put the drink down in front of him, he jumped and let out a small yelp.

"S-sorry, I just--"

"Woozi scared you eh?" the worker teased, Jun looked up to see an older, taller looking man with black hair. "He's harmless-- well that's a lie" the man cut himself off and shifted his weight to his other leg. "He looks harmless, but he wouldn't hurt you here, don't worry." he picked up the drink again and handed it out to Jun this time.

"Thanks..." Jun said, trying to read the name tag. 'S.coups' it said. Jun thought it was a little odd so he didn't finish saying the name. He nodded to the worker and quickly made his way out, a little too scared to turn around and face Woozi again.

-

Xu Minghao, 23, works at Q&A Cafe while living with his parents. Minghao wasn't fond of people doing things for him, he was distressed whenever someone did, so when his friend Jihoon told him that someone had paid for his meal, it didn't go well.

"Jihoon." He deadpanned, looking the pink haired male straight in the eye. "Who, paid for me?"

The smile on the other's face would have been contagious if Minghao weren't so worried. He laughed a little before pouting because Minghao's face wouldn't change. "Hao, I thought you said you were over it."

"I am, I just... wanna know who paid for me is all" He lied, he knew Jihoon wouldn't buy it, but it was worth a shot.

"I paid for you."

"Liar, who was it Jihoon? I'll give you the actual money I was supposed to pay as a tip if you tell me." Minghao pleaded and gave Jihoon his best puppy eyes.

"Minghao I swear you're always too nice, let someone pay for you yeah? Plus I'm not lying, the guy came in here and gave me a 20 for a honey tea, then stopped me from getting his change, to tell me that he wanted to pay for someone of my choosing."

"You chose me... why?!" Minghao whined, pulling on Jihoon's collar and making his face from more of a pout.

"Don't do that too much, your face will get stuck like that." He pinched Minghao's cheeks to get him to stop. "You said you were okay with people doing things for you now, so I thought I would let the guy do something nice for you, or I would do something nice for you by letting the guy pay for you," he started rambling about the specifics of it and Minghao whined again.

"Jihoon I swear you better tell me now or I'll"

"Wen Junhui." The answer came immediately. Minghao blinked before asking Jihoon to repeat it. "Wen Junhui. He came in here, did the thing he usually does, then left."

"How long ago?" Minghao asked.

"Not that long, about a minute or so, you have great timing by the way" Jihoon continued to ramble about nonsense like he does when he's really bored but Minghao was out before Jun got too far. He looked around, it was earlier than he usually leaves, but he was grateful because he was able to spot the famous giver easily.

He waited for the crosswalk to give him the signal before sprinting across the street and towards the rich man. He almost tacked the other onto the busy sidewalk but they were able to regain balance. Jun threw Minghao off of himself, thinking that Minghao was a mugger or some other criminal. He quickly got into a fighting stance but Minghao put his hands up.

"What do you want?" Jun asked, narrowing his eyes and coming closer to the other.

"I-I just. You paid for me back there and I wanted to give you your money back" Minghao closed his eyes, waiting for an impact that never came. He opened his eyes to see Jun a bit shocked from his answer. He repeated it again, more clearly. "You told my friend, to keep your 20 and use it to pay for someone, my friend chose me and I don't like that kind of stuff so please, take your money back."

Minghao brought out his wallet and pulled out a 10. Jun laughed a little and shook his head, pushing Minghao's hands back towards him.

"I wanted to pay for you, you can't repay me in any way." He smiled at Minghao's pout before turning his back to leave. Minghao reached out and pulled him back by the sleeve. Jun stopped and looked at the other, waiting for him to explain.

"Can you please just take my money?" Minghao held out the 10 again and Jun gave him a look.

"It's only 10 dollars, you don't need to give it back to me, and--"

"What do we have here?" Hoshi's voice came from behind Jun. Jun turned around and faced the other, wondering what took him so long, they could have been gone before someone had to come and pay him back.

"He's trying to pay me back," Jun said and thought to himself that it was just like when Mingming had met him. He sighed and looked to Hoshi for help.

"Why won't you let him help you?" Hoshi asked Jun wanted to physically facepalm but Hoshi was already continuing. "Did he tell you that he wanted to and that it wasn't a lot and that there wasn't a way to repay him?" Hoshi recited. Minghao nodded, a little shocked at how accurate the assumption was.

"Well, there is a way actually," Hoshi smiled and covered Jun's mouth before continuing. "Go on a date with him, pay for everything, and that's how you'll get him back. Easy right?" Minghao nodded once. "Good, now carry on before this guy figures out a way to change your mind. I'll make sure he's there tomorrow. Meet here around the same time. Bye bye now." Hoshi started to drag Jun away as the other struggled.

Once they were far enough Hoshi let go of Jun's mouth and wiped his hand on Jun's shoulder. "I can't believe you did that!" Jun yelled at him. Hoshi was still wiping the spit off with a disgusted face.

"I can't believe you were licking me the whole time! How gross!" Hoshi made a gagging sound before actually taking Jun into seriousness. "You'll be fine, he looks nice too." Jun walked back to the corner to see the other smiling at everyone he passed.

"Yeah, but I still don't want to go out with him." Jun turned around and headed back to his apartment.

"Where are you going?" Hoshi yelled at him from across the road. Jun showed him the finger in response. He could imagine the offended look on his friend's face. "You'll thank me for it later, just watch!"


	2. One Date or Date One?

At exactly 6:47 Minghao showed up to the corner of the street. Jun had been waiting there since 6:30, he didn't know Minghao would be so punctual, he drove because the thought he was late. The awkward eye contact they made gave him the urge to flee but he had promised Hoshi he would stay and it would be rude to ditch now.

Minghao walked up slowly, when he told Jihoon that he was over trying to repay people, he had sincerely meant it at the time but when someone opened the door for him later that day, he offered to walk them to their apartment and knew it wasn't true. He sighed and Jun asked if something was wrong. At first, Minghao didn't hear him so he repeated the question.

"Huh?" Minghao asked, looking up at the other as they started walking. Jun was leading and Minghao wondered where they were heading.

"You sighed, people usually sigh when something is wrong. Is something wrong?" Jun asked, peering at the other through his peripheral vision.

"Not exactly, I just remembered a bad memory is all." He stared at the floor and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets when he noticed the look.

The silence was awkward, he was thinking of asking Minghao about the memory but he didn't want to bring it up if it was bad. He sighed and looked at the street.

"-ng?" Jun's ears picked up on Minghao's voice. 

"What?"

"You sighed" Minghao grinned. Jun's eyes widened at his words being repeated back to him before shrugging.

"We're awkward, I don't know what to do."

He watched Minghao nod before turning his attention back to the front. "Why didn't you want me to pay for you?"

"Isn't it just better to give?" The memory came back to Jun and he held back from yelling, "Liar"

"It's not that I don't want you to pay for me, I just thought, I was only going to pay 10 dollars and I work there so there's really no reason."

Jun looked back at him for the third time that day and laughed. "That makes no sense."

"It does! If I work there then I could always get a discount if I didn't want to pay or they could take it out of my paycheck or --"

"Minghao!" A fairly old lady came up to the two with a gentle smile on her face. She looked Jun up and down before turning her full attention to Minghao.

Jun smiled at her politely. She was wearing a rainbow patterned poncho with a black shirt and black tights. The glasses on her face were a bit crooked but she didn't seem to mind.

"Minghao are you dating the famous Wen Junhui? What a perfect match for you!", Jun snickered and watched as Minghao turned red, trying to figure out what to say at the same time.

"N-no! He just... He paid for me yesterday... We aren't dating..." Jun turned back to the lady and laughed more when she tilted her chin down in disbelief and shook her finger.

"Don't lie to your elder boy, it's rude and I know you aren't rude."

The amount of darker shades Minghao went through caused Jun to burst out laughing. Minghao looked so defeated that it was hard to not feel bad for him.

"Although I am very good looking ma'am," Jun felt the glare aimed at the side of his face, "I am not... Minghao's? Boyfriend." As he was saying the sentence he realized he had never learned the other's name until that moment.

"Ah, but you two are on a date yes?" She urged on. Minghao slouched as Jun nodded.

"Yes ma'am, we are on a date, but it is only because he refuses to let me pay for his meal without getting anything in return." She seemed to nod but then hit Minghao upside the head with a stern look in her eyes.

Jun jumped a little at the sudden violence and was shocked even more when she started yelling at him. "Xu Minghao! You have to let people do something nice for you one way or another! You can't live life all alone without any help!" She hit him one more time but Jun saw that it was more of a warning than the first.

"Now, take this flower, when I saw you walking I immediately thought of bringing it to you." She held out the flower and he hesitated to take it. When she knew it was securely in his hands she smiled at the two one more time before entering her shop. Minghao stared at her for a while before pouting down at the flower. It was a single gentian.

Jun watched him, wondering what he was going to do with it. He watched Minghao slowly make his way to one of the empty pots from a bouquet and set the flower inside while staring at the doors of the shop. Slowly, he straightened his spine and walked away.

"MINGHAO DON'T YOU DARE!" The yell came from the inside. Jun whipped his head around to see the woman running out and Minghao down the street. "I swear that boy." Jun turned back to the woman and saw that she was still trying to regain her breath while holding the small flower.

"Are you okay?" He asked, a little worried. She ran all the way out of the shop at what was probably her fastest and stopped so suddenly. He rested a hand on her shoulder and stabled her till her breathing turned back to normal.

"I'm fine, thank you. What a nice boy, you are" She pinched Jun's cheeks and he winced a little. She smiled more and handed the flower to him. "That boy never lets anyone do something nice for him. That's his favorite flower, I trust that you will be able to give it to him." She stared up at Jun with a serious expression and Jun really had no choice but to accept.

"O-okay Ma'am." he stuttered. She smiled and went back into the store. "W-wait Ma'am! How much is the flower?"

"It's for Minghao," she waved it off without turning around "It's free."

He looked at the flower for a while before hiding it in his coat and trying to find his date.

He walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, trying to remember what Minghao was wearing. It was a thin, light gray, jacket and a slightly yellow shirt underneath. He remembered he was wearing ripped jeans as well. Jun walked a little bit more into the calmest part of town.

After 5 minutes of walking, he finally spotted the other. He slowed so he couldn't be noticed and observed what he got wrong. Minghao was actually wearing a yellow hoodie and gray shirt, but he got the pants right. Mentally giving himself a high five, he approached the other, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, there you are," Minghao said, not even turning his head to look at Jun.

"What- you didn't even jump," Jun whined. The chuckle Minghao let out made Jun pout even more.

"I don't get scared easily, ask my friends." He shrugged, making Jun's hand fall off his shoulder. When Jun didn't reply he took a peek and laughed at the other's jutted lip. "Awww don't pout!" Minghao cooed and moved in front of Jun to reach up and pinch his cheeks.

Jun swatted his hands away and moved his head out of reach, "Ow!" he rubbed his cheeks, still pouting. The other shook his head and reached up again. "Ah!" Jun dodged the hands and ran away, still cupping his cheeks. He turned to see Minghao quick on his tail. He let out a small squeal and ran faster.

When he turned around for the second time, it was atop a staircase. He looked down to see Minghao slouched over. Jun squinted his eyes to get a better look and Minghao was trying to catch his breath. Jun ran down the staircase to see if he was okay. As he got closer, he realized that Minghao was just laughing. At him.

"Wh-what? I thought you were dying!" Jun shoved the other a little but panicked again when he almost fell over. "What are you even laughing about?!" Jun crossed his arms and waited for Minghao's answer.

"Your-" a laugh, "You-" another laugh and Jun's eye twitched, "YOUR SQUEAL!" Minghao forced out before he began laughing again. Jun's jaw dropped as he watched the other's face scrunch up and air leave his lungs. He was having trouble getting the air back and he motioned Jun to help. Face scrunching up in pain from lack of oxygen.

"Pffffft," Jun couldn't hold in his laugh at the other's panicked smiling face and was soon laughing along with him. A few minutes of wheezing and gripping stomachs later, they continued their walk and calmed down to a small chuckle whenever they looked at each other. "By the way," Jun started, "I did not squeal."

"Oh, I beg to differ there oh-great-Wen-Junhui, you squealed." Minghao stuck out his pointer finger to aim it at Jun.

"Pointing is rude," Jun said, still laughing. Minghao straightened the rest of the fingers and asked Jun if it was better. Jun shook his head and looked around to figure out where to go. There were only a few people around, and he's seen the staircase before... "Oh, I know where we are, come on." He motioned Minghao to follow him up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Minghao said, slightly panting from the long walk up.

"There's a convenience store right around the corner. You wanted to pay me back right?" Jun said, looking around and trying to choose whether to turn left or right from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah..." Minghao said, still not understanding what Jun was getting at.

"I want you to buy me something from there."

"Wait seriously?" Minghao stopped. Jun turned around and walked backward, choosing to turn right.

"You don't want to?" He raised his eyebrows and smiled when Minghao caught up to him, shaking his head.

"No... I just never thought that someone like you would go to convenience stores... I thought you were going to make me pay for your meal at a fancy restaurant or something." He answered honestly. Minghao felt cold at his shoulder and noticed that Jun had stopped walking. "What...?"

He looked for Jun and found him a couple steps away, holding his heart under his palm with an offended expression on his face. "I'm wounded" He stated.

"What?" Minghao repeated.

"I'm wounded that you think I'm a stereotypical rich guy!" Jun whined and pouted again.

Minghao smirked, remembering what happened earlier. He knew that Jun did too by the way he stopped pouting and started to cover his cheeks. "I'm not going to pinch your cheeks," Jun didn't move his hands, "I'm not! Honest." He put his own hands in the air showing his innocence. "And I know you aren't the normal rich guy, I just thought that you went somewhere a little fancier than a convenience store."

"I still don't get it, but I'll let it slide this time." He let his hands fall to his side and continued their walk adding, "but just because you didn't pinch my cheeks." Minghao punched his arm playfully, asking him what he wanted to get.

"Well since your meal was only 10 dollars yesterday, I won't get a lot." He rubbed his chin and entered, a small 7-Eleven. Minghao looked around for anything he would buy for himself. Nothing caught his eye so he searched for Jun.

He was at the back of the store, standing in his red flannel, white shirt, and blue jeans, looking at the several soft drinks and juices through the glass refrigerator doors. Minghao walked up to peer over his shoulder.

"Having trouble? What are you looking for?"

"Uhhh...." Jun said, trying to find an answer while focusing on finding the drink at the same time. "Uhh......" he repeated. Minghao looked at the variety, of drinks mumbling them quietly.

"Rootbeer, Coke, Sprite, 7up, Orange Fanta, Honey tea, Pepsi, Lemonade...."

"Wait you found Honey tea?" Jun asked, eyes scanning all over the place.

"Right there." Minghao pointed to the row of boxes through the glass, making a small dot appear.

Jun opened the glass doors and grabbed two of the boxes then lead Minghao to the counter. "Is that all sir?" The cashier asked. Jun nodded and told them that he didn't want them in a bag. The cashier nodded and swiped the boxes and handed them back to Jun. Minghao brought out his wallet and paid.

"You have 3 dollars left," Minghao said as they exited.

"Yeah, you can keep that, it's probably tax right?" Jun took the straw off one of the boxes and inserted it through the foil.

Minghao watched him take a sip, wondering what he thought of it.

"I tried the one at your cafe by the way." Jun said Minghao nodded, "Although it was really good, I do like this better. Of course, it could just be because it's from a store." he took a sip before handing the second box out to Minghao.

"No thanks, I'm not thirsty." Minghao bit his lip when Jun gave him a face.

"Okay, you ran from the old lady, then ran after me earlier, laughed a lot, then walked upstairs. You're telling me after all that, you're not thirsty?" Minghao nodded and Jun shoved the box into his hands. "What a liar." 

"I could just drink when I get home." Minghao tried to reason, searching for a place on Jun's body he could stick the juice box through and keep it there. No luck. "Okay fine, I just really don't like when people give me things, can you please take it back?"

Jun shook his head after taking another sip from his box. "Technically, you paid for it, so it's yours, and I was just holding it for you."

Minghao narrowed his eyes and pointed to Jun, "You set me up" he accused.

"Hey, put that away," Jun swatted the finger, "maybe I did, maybe I didn't." he took another sip before watching for Minghao's reaction from the drink.

With frustration, he ripped the straw from the plastic wrapper and broke the foil, angrily drinking from the box. As the sweet honey filled his taste buds, eyes widened and looked at Jun. He was smirking back at him, empty Juice box hanging from his lips by the straw. Minghao swallowed and felt a cough coming up. He took the drink out of his mouth before turning into his arm and coughing.

"Easy there, is it really that good? I don't think it's too different from the one you serve at the cafe." Jun laughed, patting Minghao's back and helping him through the attack. Minghao cleared his throat one time before wiping his lips.

"I was just surprised. I see why you like this better, though." He cautiously took another sip from the box as Jun threw his empty one away.

"I love honey tea in general, this is just my favorite," Jun stated absently. Minghao nodded and they were brought to a silence again, thankfully, it wasn't as awkward as the one they had in the beginning of the date.

None of them said anything till they reached the corner. "Did you walk here?" Jun asked. Minghao shrug-nodded and Jun shook his head. "It's dark, I'll drive you home."

Shaking his head furiously, he disagreed with the idea. He heard Jun laugh and tried to focus on the other when he grabbed his shoulders to steady him. "Woah hold on" he muttered, blinking.

Jun laughed more, dropping his head before looking back up at Minghao, hands still on his shoulders. "I'm driving you home, I live 3 minutes away and it'll be a waste of gas to just drive home." He turned Minghao around to push him across the street once the crosswalk sign gave the okay. He was thankful for the 30 seconds given to cross because Minghao was struggling with all his might.

"Minghao," Jun grunted, "if you don't start walking we're going to get run over and I'm not exactly fond of that idea."

"Well if you just let me go home my own way," Minghao dug his heels into the ground, "then I wouldn't be doing this now would I?"

Jun finally managed to get them on the sidewalk before the stoplights turned green. Minghao continued to lean against Jun until they got to his car. When Jun opened the door by reaching around Minghao, Minghao braced himself against the door frame as if he would die once he entered the car. 

"Minghao we're already here! Would you just get into the car before you break my door off?" Jun gave the other one last shove and Minghao's gave up on him making him fall face first onto the passengers seat. He heard Jun walk to the other side of the car and he pouted, fixing his position so he could buckle his seat belt.

He felt a pain in his cheek and he flinched away, Jun pinched his cheek. "Did you really?"

"Yep!" Jun started the car and buckled his seat belt as if nothing happened. Minghao rubbed his cheek, still shocked. "Where to?"

"Jie street," Minghao grumbled.

-

Jun slowed once he turned onto the street, telling Minghao to point out his house.

"Just up ahead, the one with the tire swing in front." He poked the glass and Jun pulled up to the driveway.

"Nice." Jun nodded, respecting the tire swing.

"Thanks. For the compliment and the ride." Minghao quickly got out of the car and jogged up to his doorstep. He waved at Jun before disappearing behind the door.

Jun nodded even though Minghao couldn't see him, he took the car out of park and drove off, trying to forget that the gentian the lady gave him earlier was still in his coat pocket.


	3. Oh, Look Who's Here

Jun sighed, hanging his coat next to the door and walking straight into his room to face plant into the sheets. He took a deep breath and rolled over to let it out. Staring at the ceiling for a while, he wondered why he didn't just throw out the flower, or give it to Minghao in the first place. Also, why was he freaking out over a small flower?

Digging his palms into his eye sockets he sighed again, laughing when he remembered Minghao repeating his words back to him. "Oh god, I'm going crazy" He muttered to himself. He groaned again and let his arms fall to his sides. Spreading out over the expanse of the bed he thought of the flower again, Minghao.

Jun knew that the other was really nice, but Mingming was really nice too. Minghao's laugh popped into his mind and he couldn't help but smile at it. "I did not squeal" he repeated again. Sitting up in bed, he looked down at his hands, at his ring fingers.

Jun smiled as he waited at the altar, right hand holding onto his left wrist, back straight and hair styled up to the side. His eyes scanned over everyone, his parents, Soonyoung, his grandparents, his cousins, it was a small ceremony but Jun wouldn't have asked for more. Mingming said that his family weren't big supporters of his sexuality so he didn't invite them. Jun still wished they were still invited, what kind of parents wouldn't be proud of their child getting married?

The music started playing again and everyone stood to look at the door. Jun's smile got even wider as Mingming's friends along with more of his cousins came through. As the last couple walked out Jun's smile fell. Mingming's only cousin stood there, alone, walking down the isle with something in his hands.

Jun looked around at Mingming's friends and they looked apologetic, Jun swallowed a lump in his throat and looked at Mingming's cousin again. "Where's Mingming?" Jun asked. Taking the paper package silently.

"We," the cousin cleared his throat, Jun looked away, to his family and Soonyoung, "we thought that he was just running late, so we didn't tell anyone that he didn't show up. I- I got a text from Mingming... confirming that he wouldn't." Jun looked down at the envelope in his hands.

"What's this then?"

"Mingming's ring..." the cousin said, a bit choked up. He was so sorry for Jun, he didn't know how the other wasn't crying. He watched the paper being gently tucked into Jun's pocket and watched as Jun turned towards the crowd.

"Thank you... for coming, all of you. I'm sorry it didn't go as planned, and for wasting your time. You're all free to leave, take your gifts back, and some cake while you're at it." There was a strangled tone in his voice but no evidence of anger. No one knew what to say, they stood, looking at Jun for a while, before filing out.

Jun finally took a deep breath, finding comfort in the noise. He didn't know what he would have done if they had watched him any longer. He walked in the opposite direction, up to the altar and looked at the set up as everyone left.

The magnolia bouquets hanging from each isle chair wrapped in a pale pink cloth. Jun made his way down the walkway slowly, admiring each of the bouquets. He brought one of the flower bunches off the chair to hold in his hands. He stared down at them, playing with the petals, before letting them fall to the floor.

He took a sharp breath through his nose as a strong feeling spread from behind his eyes, making his face heat up. Blinking rapidly, he walked out of the ceremony hall. Shockingly, Soonyoung was still standing there, hands behind his back, pacing back and fourth.

"I thought you would have left already."

"I'm your ride remember?"

"I could have just walked home."

Soonyoung walked up to him slowly, with every step Jun felt the stinging behind his eyes get stronger. When he saw Soonyoung open his arms he let a single sob out, leaning into the embrace and burying his face in the other's shoulder.

"You were right" Jun let out bitterly. He felt Soonyoung nod and he buried his face further into his best friend's neck.

"I'm sorry I was right," Soonyoung stated sincerely, "let's get you home okay?" He ruffled the back of Jun's head and waited till Jun willingly moved away before leading him to the car.

The car ride was filled with Jun trying to hold in his tears and Hoshi reminding him that it was okay to let it out. Jun would shake his head, managing to tell the other that he was fine and didn't need to cry anymore.

When they finally got to the apartment complex Jun thanked Soonyoung and hoped that he would get home safely. "You sure you don't want me to come in with you?"

"No, really, I'm fine Soonyoung. Thanks again, see you tomorrow yeah?" Thinning his lips into a line, Soonyoung nodded and drove off.

Jun watched the car leave his view before looking up at the building.

'Here we go'

The ride up in the elevator made Jun anxious than ever. What was he expecting? Did he want to see Mingming there? Did he want the other to explain to him? Can he handle being dumped verbally?

With shaking hands he opened the door to his home, eyes closed at first. As he cracked his eyes opened, he got a small glimpse of his living room before everything went blurry. He heard the door automatically close behind him but the thrumming from his heartbeat could have blocked it out.

None of Mingming's things were there. Mingming always had a coat hanging on the coat rack, he said it was some sort of aesthetic. He would have a coffee cup on the table and his favorite pillow on the couch, both were gone. He made his way towards the bedroom where Mingming left his stuff for the times he slept over but nothing was there either. His blanket was gone, pillows were gone, as Jun entered the bathroom he found Mingming's towel gone. Everything. Gone.

Back, in reality, Jun felt something wet land on his palms, blinking again he saw the shine. Wiping the tears away he stood up and got ready for bed, hopefully, with no other thoughts crowding his mind.

-

"Dude, it's been a week, you've already fallen for him." Soonyoung's voice came through the phone. Jun pulled it away from his ear to glare, hoping the feeling could get through. "You're glaring at me aren't you?" Jun's eyes widened, did he have powers? "Jun, you there?"

Quickly bringing the phone back to his ear, "I did not fall for him, I'm just bothered by the fact I broke a promise with that old lady." He flicked some lint off his pants.

"Sure, you call me every day for the past seven days to talk about him because you're worried the old lady's heart would break if you don't give him a small flower."

"She's a nice lady... and it was a gentian, a nice flower if I do say so myself and his name is-"

"Minghao, you've told me all of this before Jun. You want to see him again, just go see him."

Jun thought back to when Minghao said he worked at Q&A. "What if he isn't interested?"

"He doesn't like when people do things for him right? Just, do something for him and tell him he could repay you with another date. I don't know, do whatever you want."

"What if he was just saying that because..." Jun trailed off, feeling something crawl up his throat, "What if he's like Mingming?" Hoshi's line was silent for a while and Jun bit his lip.

"Junhui," Jun's eyes widened at the use of his whole name, "When you first met Mingming, I told you I had a feeling didn't I? I told you with no hesitance, I even said it in front of his face." Jun nodded, he tried to voice a verbal answer but it died in his throat. "I haven't gotten a feeling from Minghao nor do I think I will get one. Jun, you know I would never drive you in under your head. Trust me on this, I promise you it'll be fine."

Before Jun could answer, a deaf sound signaled the act of the end button. He stared at his phone for a little while, stalling the situation. A moment later his screen lit up with Soonyoung's contact telling him, 'Don't you dare back out'

"Damn it Hoshi" Jun grabbed a jacket before heading out.

-

The first place Jun went was the flower shop. He walked up to the outside and slowly made his way in.

"Oh~! Wen Junhui, what brings you to the shop?" The lady from last week moved from behind towards Jun. He smiled down at her shyly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh... well you remember the flower you told me to give to Minghao?" Her eyes seemed to light up at the memory and she nodded.

"Ah yes, the free one, you're not back here to pay me are you?" She eyed him.

"No, no, no." He said quickly. "I just wanted to ask you for more? You see, I wasn't able to give it to him last time... So I was wondering if I could have a bouquet to give?" That made her stop.

"A bouquet? Why not ask for another flower?" Jun blushed and scratched his neck. "I- um... you see I-" while he was trying to come up with an excuse, she held the bouquet up to his face. "Oh, uh, how did you make it so fast?" He took the flowers and pulled out his wallet.

"No need for that boy, these are for Minghao. Anything for Minghao is free." She smiled and pushed his wallet away. He shook his head.

"I'm still Wen Junhui ma'am, I still like to give tips. I guess I'm not that different from Minghao. How much?" He pushed, not too forcefully, but enough to make his point.

"Bah, you two. Too nice for your own good. Twenty should be enough." Jun nodded and pulled out a 20 dollar bill and one 10 handing it to the lady with a smile.

"Keep the change," He quickly made his way out of the door, hearing her yell after him. He grinned on his way out, waving to the young boy that seemed to be helping her.

"Make sure she's okay," He said, making sure the flowers weren't harmed as he made his way towards the coffee shop. As he slowed, he realized the Minghao might not even be there. He stopped across the street, away from the crosswalk so it wouldn't look like he was about to cross. He looked at the flowers, wondering what he should do.

He figured he could go to Minghao's house since he knew where it was, but what would he do if Minghao wasn't there either? The neighbors would wonder and it would be obvious.

It would be obvious either way, he noticed. 'Do it anonymously' he mentally nodded. There wasn't a lot of people inside, mostly workers. Some wiping the floor. Jun checked the window, wondering how he didn't even notice the 'closed' sign wasn't turned around. He was about to make his way out again but someone called out to him.

When he looked at the counter, he felt a bit bad at the amount of relief he felt when it wasn't the pink haired guy working. Instead, it was a long haired male, who was already wearing a smile, "We're open, don't worry. Just a bit slow today. Are you meeting someone?" He asked. Jun shook his head and handed his flowers to the worker, reading the name tag at the same time 'Jeonghan'

"No, but I was wondering... could you give these to Mingh... Hoshi?" He said, seeing the blond walk out from the back.

"What are you doing here?" He made an apologetic face towards Jeonghan and the other dismissed it with a hand, looking at the flowers and smiling.

"I know one of the workers, fairly well actually. It's one of the reasons I recommended the cafe to you." Hoshi's cheeks were slightly pink but Jun didn't think much of it. "I see you actually followed through with my idea." He said, looking back towards Jeonghan. "I didn't know you would go with flowers, they're nice."

"The lady at the shop seems to know a lot about Minghao, I asked her for a bouquet and she gave me those."

"Nice. Well," Hoshi clapped his hands together, "I'm off, remember, trust..." He took a step closer to Jun, "the Hosh" He made a gesture, so close to Jun's face that he could feel a breath.

"Yeah, yeah, get outta here." Jun stepped back moving the hand away.

He made his way back to the counter again, seeing Jeonghan picking some of the damaged petals out of the bunch. "Thank you," Jeonghan nodded absentmindedly, "could you give these to Minghao?" Jeonghan's eyes widened at the full name.

"The 8?" Jun gave him a look and Jeonghan remembered who he was talking to. "Xu Minghao, he goes by The 8 here. You want to give these to him?" Jun nodded slowly, Jeonghan laughed a bit more before nodding to Jun.

"I don't know Minghao very well, but I know that he's not going to like this." He twirled the flowers around and Jun shrugged.

"He's not going to like me paying for his meal today either but I'll do it. How much does he usually pay?"

"Around 15 because he gives tips like you. He comes here around 5:30 and stays till about 7. Just in case, you wanted to know."

"Thanks... for a lot, can I get a honey tea to go with it? Here you go, keep the change." He gave Jeonghan 35 dollars and Jeonghan stuttered.

"Th-that's almost a ten dollar tip..." Jun thought about it for a while.

"I guess I did the math wrong, oh well. I said keep it, so you should. Take it as... A thanks for the information and trouble of giving them to Minghao." Jeonghan nodded, putting some bills into the register before putting some into his apron pocket.

Jun left the coffee shop on a more happy note. As he crossed the street his feet stumbled over each other when he spotted a familiar face. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and looked again and sure enough, Mingming was there. He quickly crossed the street and walked towards his apartment, wishing he took his car.

Looking at his left ring finger, he remembered his empty bedroom, how different it had all been at the time, standing at the altar alone, "Hoshi, you better be right." He threw the tea away, sure that he wouldn't be able to stomach it after seeing him.


	4. [A Short Breather]

'What?' he asked himself as he walked through the door. On his table, he saw a clear vase holding white roses and gentian. It wasn't exactly his table but he hasn't seen anyone sit there but him-technically no one was sitting there but obviously those flowers weren't his. Mentally shaking his head he turned his attention back to the counter and tried to remember what he hadn't tried yet.

"French vanilla and chocolate chip muffin, haven't you tried this already?" Woozi asked, typing the order into the computer. Minghao thought about it some more, he might have.

"I don't think it was this combination, I might have tried the two of them separately before." He kept the conversation up knowing Woozi was bored.

"You should have kept a list,"

"Well, it's too late now isn't it? Maybe you should try it."

"Seungcheol makes the food way too sweet for my liking," he shook his head before jerking his head to the right, "He probably already has your order."

"Maybe it's too sweet for you, but he makes it really fast."

"So who're the flowers for?" he asked S.Coups as he came out of the counter to give him his order. S.Coups looked over his shoulder and shrugged. "Woozi told me they were for you, but if you didn't know then..." He gave Minghao an apologetic look before heading back to his station.

Reeling himself back to the front of the counter, he gave Woozi a death glare. "Yes?"

"Why?"

"You're talking about the flowers right?" He looked towards Minghao's table and mimicked their manager's shrug, "Jeonghan said they were for you so I put them on your table. I don't know who they're from, though." He watched with an amused smirk as Minghao's glare turned into a hopeless pout.

"Are you sure you don't know who it is?" He asked again, all he got was a shake of pink hair before he decided to look at his flowers.

There had to be a note right? He took a small bite of the muffin a couple sips from his coffee before turning the flowers around, not disrupting the order of it. Maybe when he leaves he could go ask Mrs. Hana about who she gave them to. They were his favorite flowers, organized just how he suggested when he first saw them.

20 minutes later; food all gone with no note to be found, Minghao's pout turned into a panic when the usual feeling he gets started to settle in his chest. He bobbed his legs up and down, looking for something to do. He listed the people inside the cafe.

"One couple, can't bother them," he mumbled loud enough only himself could hear, "kid doing homework, does he need help? What if he's video chatting someone and they're already talking about answers? That'll just bother them... who isn't doing something?"

Suddenly straightening his back, he stood, steadying the table when he saw the vase nearly topple over. He didn't see anyone look at him so he continued his way towards the counter.

"Hey, Woozi~" The pink fluff of hair came closer and eventually headphones came into view. "So, do you have to do anything after this?" Woozi looked up at him with wide eyes before they looked away and his hair color spread across his face.

"Y-eah, I kind of..." He mumbled something and the feeling in Minghao's chest kept him from teasing the other.

"I'll cover your shift for you!"

"Minghao you said-"

"I know!" he said a little louder than usual, a bit on edge about everything. He made a quick recheck of the cafe and sighed. "I know what I said but... I just can't help it Jihoon" He heard the door close, the couple left and the kid was about to leave too. "Your shift is almost over anyway. It's better if you're not rushing."

Jihoon tried to hold Minghao's stare but gave in with one quiver of the lip. "Fine" they moved towards the back to see their manager.

"Seungcheol!" Woozi screamed once they entered the back. The dark haired male looked up from the coffee machine, he asked someone to cover for him before he properly walked up to them. 

"What's up? Did we run out of something?" He wiped his hands down on his apron.

"No, Minghao wants to take over the rest of my shift." The manager's lips thinned into a hard line and he gave them a look.

"I know you don't like it when we switch shifts because the other person still gets money and it's not fair and we can't get a raise either" Minghao rushed out and took a deep breath before finishing, "but I really, really want to and Jihoon has a date." Minghao felt a sharp pain in his side and rubbed the area Jihoon elbowed.

"Just this once, you know how he is." Jihoon scratched the back of his head, looking up at Seungcheol apologetically. 

Letting his lips relax, Seungcheol hesitantly agreed, "Change quickly, I think I heard someone walk into the door and no one is working the register." Smiling, Minghao hugged his manager before getting dressed.

"He's really not over it?" Seungcheol asked, following Minghao with his eyes. Jihoon shook his head slowly.

"I think he's handling it, just sometimes, he remembers you know?" Taking his apron off, he hung it on the rack next to the door before waving the manager off.

Minghao walked out of the single changing room, smoothing down any wrinkles he found, grinning at Seungcheol on his way back to the counter. He immediately got to work, feeling better already, humming and wiping down the counter. He heard the door open and he absentmindedly greeted them.

"Welcome to Q&A Cafe what would you like to get?" The pitch in his voice got higher as the meaning behind his question changed, "Hi Jun."

"Hey, Minghao."

He laughed nervously and set the damp cloth in the opening behind the counter before focusing his attention on his customer. "So what do you want to order?" he asked again. Jun looked at the menu above his head and Minghao waited patiently.

"You know... I'll take a recommendation. I actually have something to ask you so I'll just wait till your shift ends." They smiled at each other for a while before Jun remembered Minghao didn't know he came in earlier so he would be curious as to how Jun knew Minghao's shift. "-What time does your shift end?"

Minghao was already typing things into the computer, "Not long, about 15 minutes." he finished typing and gestured towards the other side of the counter. Jun looked at him weird before realizing he had to go get his order.

"Wen Junhui! Nice to see you here again, Jeonghan says thank you for the big tip by the way."

"Yeah... he didn't tell me Minghao's shift was today..." He mentioned, palming for his food. S.Coups gave him a look and made him blush.

"You gave him a tip because he gave you information? Nice, I never thought-" Jun scrambled over the counter, almost knocking over the drink, to slap a hand over Seungcheol's mouth.

"I promise I will give you twenty dollars to not tell Minghao." His head jerked around and he made sure no one heard. Seungcheol moved Jun away from him and declined on the money.

"Your secret is safe with me, treat Minghao nice okay?" Jun blushed more at the words, nodding and looking back at Seungcheol frequently as he made his way to the table. He almost knocked the flowers down the same time Seungcheol decided to leave. Taking a deep breath, he blew into the small hole in the lid and took a sip.

Coffee, french vanilla. He smiled at the sweet taste and examined the flowers. They were nice and small, Jun wasn't much of a flower person but he could see why Minghao liked them. Suddenly, the flowers were moving and an arm came into view. Trailing his arms up the arm to the person it was connected to, Jun kept it low key and asked why the flowers were there.

"Uhh," Minghao started, blushing at the thought, "they're for me apparently." Jun took note of the fact Minghao added the 'apparently'.

"What do you mean by-"

"Minghao, as your boss, I'm telling you not to clean the tables and check out already." Seungcheol's voice came from behind the counter. Minghao stopped and closed his eyes, giving Jun to peek at Seungcheol only to be winked at.

Minghao turned, "But Seungcheol-"

"No butts, take off your apron and relax till we close, it's only 5 minutes Minghao."

"Wha- but-" Seungcheol gave him a stern look, forcing him to stop arguing.

2 minutes later Minghao slumped into the seat across from Jun. "It took you 2 minutes just to take an apron off."

With a soft glare, Minghao retorted, "Excuse you, I have to move the tips into my wallet too."

"Still doesn't take that long," Jun smirked. Minghao reached across the table and lightly slapped his arm. "Okay, okay. So the flowers."

"My co-worker said that someone bought it for me earlier today, I originally came here to eat and just relax because that's what I always do but when someone gave me the flowers I just felt like doing something nice."

"Did your co-worker give the flowers to you?" He finished the coffee and Minghao didn't even ask to throw it away. When he came back Jun looked at him weirdly.

"What?"

"...Nothing, so your co-worker gave these to you?" he repeated.

"No."

"Then why did you take their shift?"

"The cafe is closing guys," Seungcheol stood at the end of the table, apron off and hands in his pockets awkwardly, "I didn't mean to interrupt but I keep it open longer people will come in."

Both men nodded in understanding and stood to leave, as Jun held the door open for Seungcheol like the gentleman he was, he pointed out that Minghao forgot the flowers.

"Thanks, don't want these to die." He smiled down at the flowers and it made a smile appear on Jun's face as well. Seungcheol smirked at the scene before forcing Minghao to hurry it up so he could lock the door.

"See you tomorrow Minghao, nice seeing you again Junhui, good night guys." He waved them off as he jogged towards his car, wanting the two of them to have as much alone time as possible. Jun looked at the doors for a while longer, something felt wrong.

"Did you leave something in there?" Minghao's worried voice filled his ears and made something click in his head.

"You paid for my drink. I didn't pay for it earlier." He turned around again to see Minghao playing with the petals on one of the white roses.

"Yeah, you gave me a ride home that one day. I was just evening out the... what's the word?"

"You didn't have to, it was just a small drink." There was no real anger in Jun's words but Minghao could tell there was confusion.

"I wanted to, you gave me a ride so I gave you a drink. It's really not that bad." Minghao started walking and Jun followed.

"So..." Jun continued, moving onto a similar topic, "You really don't like when people do things for you."

"Didn't I already tell you that I just feel uncomfortable when it happens? I don't really hate it."

"Then why do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Because..." he looked down at the floor and kicked a rock in his path, "because it just doesn't seem fair."

Jun was going to ask him to elaborate on his statement but Minghao already knew, "I know that nice things happen to people and I know that you go around tipping people and paying for their meals but I just don't need it." He kicked another rock. "I feel like there're so many people out there that need help, so many homeless, poor, starving people. And I'm over here managing on my own, able to support myself and even others if I needed to. I don't need someone paying for me, but there are others that do and I feel like if something nice happens to me, I just stole a chance for someone to be nice to the poor."

Jun stayed silent for a long time after, wanting Minghao to say more.

"I guess you have a point," he finally said, "but your reasoning isn't completely right either."

Minghao's eyebrows furrowed so Jun continued. "Sure there are a lot of people in the world that need money, but coming from a person that used to just give out money to anyone who asked for it, there're people that take advantage of you."

"People'll start expecting you to give more money to them, Hoshi meets the people I give money to and makes sure they don't take advantage of me. He's protective like that." Jun laughed and caused Minghao to chuckle as well. "The point is, giving to someone that already has money is easier and has a less risk of being taken advantage of than giving to someone that has none."

Minghao still looked lost, they had reached Minghao's car and a feeling in his stomach was telling him to ask Minghao for a ride home. 'A three-minute drive' he told himself. "If you give homeless people money they need more to become stable, no one can fully support another person without taking them into their home and even then it's hard."

"I'm still taking their chance," Minghao said, playing with the keys in his hand, he didn't want to get into the car if Jun was still talking to him. "Do you want a ride home?"

Inside, Jun was dying to say yes and in order to stay safe, he just shook his head. "My house is only a 3-minute drive." He took a step back, letting Minghao unlock his car. Next thing he knew he was being pulled into the passenger seat. "What?" He looked around, nose catching the scent of a car freshener.

"Yeah, well you won't be walking," Minghao said, locking the door and starting the car, quickly pulling out of the parking lot. He Jun scrambled to sit correctly and put his seat belt on. Screaming the whole turn.

"Calm down, we're alive and I'll drive safe...er from now on." He adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

"What did I do this time? What are you repaying me for?" Jun asked once he was able to get his heart to work again.

"The flowers." Jun was about to ask him how he figured out but Minghao continued, "I feel like I should be doing nice deeds to everyone. At least, until I figure out who gave me the flowers."

Jun bit his lip. "Tell me when to turn." Jun nodded.

"You take it straight and then turn left, I'll tell you when to stop." The rest of the 2 minutes passed quickly and before the knew it Minghao's car was parked and Jun was getting out.

Starting up his car again he heard a tap on his window, rolling it down, Jun's face came into view and he immediately smiled. "Yeah?"

"Were you always like this? Y'know, doing nice things and hating when something nice happens to you?" Minghao shook his head, laughing a little at the memory.

"I don't hate it," he corrected, "and you'd be surprised at how different I was in the past," he saw Jun open his mouth for more questions and he quickly added, "Sorry Junhui, gotta get home. I promise I'll tell you the story another time!"


	5. No More Trouble

Unlocking his door and hanging his coat on the rack he stopped and rethought his lights and television being on.

"Hoshi what are you doing here?" He walked over to the edge of the couch and propped his torso up with his arms, looking down at his blond friend.

"I was wondering when you were going to come back, you're home too early to have brought Minghao out on a date." He pointed out, sitting up and causing Jun to move back. He walked around the couch and sat next to Hoshi, leaning his head over the edge.

"I didn't bring him out on a date, I didn't even tell him I was the one that sent the flowers." He ran his hand through his hair and turned to see Hoshi's confused face.

"Why didn't you ask him out? Still scared?" Hoshi turned serious, turning the volume down and giving his full attention to Jun.

"A little, yeah," Jun admitted, moving his arm to prop his head up.

"Why won't you just trust me on this?" Hoshi said defensively. "I think that Minghao is a really good person that won't do the same thing Mingming did."

"How do you know for sure?" Jun countered, "He told me, just before I came up, that he wasn't always like that. All helping and nice, he said he was completely different when he was younger. People change and they can change back Soonyoung. How do you know that Minghao won't change back on me?" He watched Soonyoung swallow the previous words he was going to say.

"Please, just trust me on this." Jun groaned and rubbed his face dramatically.

"How do you have so much trust in Minghao? Why do you have so much trust in Minghao?" Hoshi opened his mouth to answer but nothing immediately came out. He didn't really have one.

"I just do okay? My instincts have never failed me." He proudly stated, getting the smallest of grins to appear on Jun's face for the first time since he walked into his house. The owner of the grin stood, heading towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to bed, you can stay if you want, you've been here enough to know where everything is. I'm trusting you not to burn down my house while I'm sleeping." He stretched an arm up and rubbed his eye with the other, yawning at the same time. "Night Hosh."

Hoshi waited for the door to close before heading out of the apartment. He test turned the door nob just to make sure it was locked before pulling out his phone and heading towards his car. The line rang 3 times before his boyfriend's voice came through the receiver. "Where are you?"

Hoshi moved the phone away from his ear when the irritated voice came through, making sure nothing would be able to damage his eardrum he slowly brought the phone back to his ear. "I was at Jun's didn't you just get off of work a couple minutes ago?" He held his phone between his shoulder and cheek, fishing for his keys.

He dropped them on the floor and cursed, his phone picked it up and sent it to his boyfriend. "Soonyoung," the voice threatened, making said man drop his keys again.

"Okay Jihoon," Soonyoung assured, "I'll be home soon I promise, but I need to go somewhere first." He successfully opened his car and slipped inside to start it up.

"Where?"

"Do you know where Minghao lives?" He hesitantly asked he brought the phone away from his ear again, expecting the screams. He took the chance to attach it to the stand and pressed speaker before taking his car out of park.

"Kwon Soonyoung why in hell do you want to go to Minghao's house?!" He winced at how loud Jihoon's voice came through and turned the call volume down 3 times.

"It's to help Jun!" He defended, he heard Jihoon sigh over the static and bit his lip.

"He lives on Jie. It's the house with the tire swing in front, you'll know. If you don't, just call me again." There wasn't any other sound from Jihoon's line after that but Soonyoung knew Jihoon was just covering the mic of his phone. It was something he did when he was worried Soonyoung was mad at him or hiding something important. He did it a lot in the beginning of their relationship.

"I love you Jihoonie~ no one could ever replace you. I promise I'll come soon okay?" He could almost hear the relieved sound Jihoon gave out before the line officially went dead. Sometimes Jihoon was the cutest person ever.

He made a wrong turn at first and had to take a U-y. He thought about calling Jihoon like the other suggested but he was already mad about it enough. Eventually, he made it to the correct street and slowed his mileage to look for the tire swing.

He found it a couple houses down and wondered where he could park, across the street or in front of the house. Shrugging, he parked next to he curb and locked his car before heading up to the doorstep.

He rang the doorbell once and wondered if he actually got the wrong house. He was about to head back to his car but the door opened, revealing Minghao in joggers and a plain white shirt. Soonyoung smiled at him and asked if they could talk for a while.

"Uhh..." Minghao looked back to the inside of his house, Soonyoung spotted the flashing colors on the walls and started apologizing. Minghao laughed, explaining that it was fine. "They're watching Inside Out, we've watched it 100 times before, I can miss a few minutes. What did you need?" He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his joggers.

"Yeah... Let's see... How do I word this?" He looked at Minghao, who shrugged. "You need to go on a date with Jun." He cut to the chase, unable to find another way to phrase it. Minghao's eyes widened and Soonyoung was about to beg but Minghao's laughter cut him off.

"You don't want to?" Hoshi bit his lip, he was so sure-

"I will if he asks. I'm not the type to ask people out but if he asks I'm not refusing. He's... cute" He said that last part more to himself. Hoshi made a noise and Minghao blushed, watching him jump up and down excitedly. He cleared his throat to get Soonyoung back to reality.

"You two are so perfect for each other!" He squealed, shocking Minghao and making him blush a little more. "He'll ask you out soon, don't worry." Minghao nodded slowly. "Y'know I wanted him to ask you out today but he was scared."

"Scared of what?" Minghao pipped, tilting his head to the side. "Scared of me?" He pointed to himself in disbelief.

"In a way," Soonyoung scratched the back of his head, "yes, but it's not because he thinks you could hurt him, well-physically." He jumbled up his words and Minghao held in his laugh.

"He's just scared of heartbreak and being taken advantage of." Minghao thought back to the sentence Jun said earlier and nodded.

"I could never. If he caught me earlier in life I might have but I've changed for the better." He hadn't held back in telling Soonyoung until he realized he said it. Covering his mouth he moved back towards the door, memories coming back to him. Soonyoung tilted his head to the side but Minghao was breathing a little harder than usual.

"Are you okay?" Soonyoung asked, moving closer to Minghao.

Nodding his head furiously, Minghao turned the door nob and fell on his butt into his house. He looked up at Soonyoung and rushed to get up.

"S-sorry, I just... I think I should go back inside, it's cold out here and you should get home too. Thank you for coming and I'm sorry we couldn't talk for longer bye"

"Minghao-" Soonyoung reached out to stop the door but it was too late, he didn't knock. He had a feeling Minghao wouldn't answer anyway. He stared at the door for a little while longer, thinking about Minghao's behavior, he had to ask Jihoon about it. His boyfriend wasn't going to like it but he needed to know at least a little bit.

He walked to his car and drove home, wondering what Jihoon was doing.

When he got to Jihoon's house he had to pat down his pockets for the right key. He wasn't having luck with locks today was he? He whistled as he walked in, spinning the key in his hand. When he spotted Jihoon slumped over the table, breathing softly, his whistle turned into air blowing out of his mouth. He washed up before coming back to rest his face in the pink hair. He kissed the small swirl on the top the other's head before shaking his shoulder.

"Jihoonie~ I'm here" He heard a groan coming from the smaller and chuckled, turning the swivel chair around and catching him before he fell to the floor. Soonyoung easily brought him to the bed and tucked both of them underneath comfortably.

"You're here" Jihoon finally woke up enough to acknowledge the other. He moved closer to Soonyoung and hid his face in his neck, ready to fall back asleep. Soonyoung brought his hand up to run his fingers through Jihoon's hair and just cradle him for a moment.

"Jihoon?" He whispered, not wanting to wake the other up if he was already sleeping.

"Mph?" Jihoon sounded from his neck. Soonyoung swallowed and mentally prepared himself for the consequences of his question.

"What was Minghao like when he was younger?" Jihoon made another noise and tried to get away from Soonyoung, pushing the other's chest away and pulling on the blankets.

"Soonyoung, stop talking about Minghao!" He managed to get out of Soonyoung's hold and wrap himself in the blankets, leaving Soonyoung out.

"I promise this is the last question! It's for Jun! I just want him to be as happy as we are. C'mon, don't be jealous! I love you Jihoonie~" He came up and hugged the bundle of blankets, hoping his boyfriend would forgive him. "Jihoon~ I promise, I love you and only you."

When no reply came Soonyoung took drastic measures and pounced on the soft bundle, pulling the blankets down to show Jihoon's face before leaning down to kiss his cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, and finally his lips.

He pulled away slowly, leaning down again for another peck, then another, and eventually Jihoon had gotten over a dozen and pushed Soonyoung off. He was blushing and out of breath, blankets tangled from kicking his feet and trying to get Soonyoung off him. Speaking of Soonyoung, he was getting up again to kiss Jihoon more when a hand was at his throat.

"I'll kill you if you speak about him anytime after this." He squeezed the throat in his hand slightly before letting his arm drop to the bed again. Soonyoung nodded and began to fix the blankets.

"I promise I'll do anything you want tomorrow." He hopped underneath the comforters and hugged Jihoon close again, getting them back into their previous position. His chin rested on the pink hair and he felt hands wrap around his middle.

"He used to cause a lot of trouble. Now go to sleep and stop asking me about him." He said, shifting so that he could feel Soonyoung's chin on his head.

-

Minghao took a deep breath from the other side of the door, trying to calm himself down. His heart was pounding in his chest and he made his way towards the staircase. He remembered 3 times today.

"Minghao where are you going?" His sibling called from the living room.

"To check on Mom and Dad, see if they need anything." He answered truthfully. He made his way up the stairs, stumbling over a step and hitting his knee. He hissed at the pain but he was still able to move. He relaxed for a moment before continuing over to his parents room.

He cracked the door open to see them sleeping and he smiled, relaxing his whole body in relief, they were there. He closed the door softly, turning the nob so there wasn't a clicking sound. Once the door was safely closed he made his way downstairs again.

When he got back into the living room it was the part of the story where Joy and Bing-bong were stuck in lost memory and Minghao thought about his own mind.

He knows what his core memories are, they're controlled by anger, fear, and sadness. He smiled bitterly to himself and zoned out the rest of the movie as a different scene took over his brain.

-

"GET BACK HERE!" The wrinkly old face scrunched up in anger as Minghao got a glimpse of the tan fist.

"Heh, you'll never catch me, old man!" He stuck his tongue out like the 12-year-old he was. Hands were quickly blocking his vision, forcing him to twist his body around if he didn't want to be caught.

Suddenly the ground was coming closer and pain spread across his knees. Extending his hands in front of him, the metallic taste of blood spread across his tongue and pain was painted on his palms as well.

Lucky enough, he didn't see anyone chasing after him. Sitting on the curb, he spit the red liquid out of his mouth and wiped the residue with the back of his hand.

"Tch," He mentally scolded himself for getting hurt, how would he explain this to his parents? Examining his palms, he dusted the dirt off on his pants, hissing at the added pain.

"If you keep doing that, they'll get infected." A heavy hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see pearly whites. Blinking, he listened to the next few words. "Come with me, my friend and I can clean you up."

Without Minghao's consent, he picked him up by the armpits and got him to his feet, leading him towards some building.

"What's your name?" Minghao stayed silent, if he figured out everything, his parents would worry again.

"Oh, okay, well I'm Seungcheol... How did you get all scratched up?" Silence followed the question again. Seungcheol laughed nervously and ushered him into the building, talking about the place they were going to.

"My parents aren't home, they went out on a date. It was really my idea, I wanted the house to myself for today. They told me I'm still too young to be watching horror movies, but I'm 17 now. I only got a few dollars so I could only get one movie. Do you like Spongebob?"

Minghao avoided the stares, daggers digging into the side of his face and cold chilling his bones. He's seen all of them before, chasing after him for something he did.

He himself didn't know why. He had a wonderful family, two parents that were nowhere near getting a divorce, a nice roof over his head, he had everything he needed. Maybe it was simply because he was bored. Bored of how nothing was interesting, how he could go through life not being noticed.

"Who's the kid?" Minghao watched the door close.

"I... don't know his name." He heard the man respond and felt one of his hands leave his shoulder.

"Then why is he here?" Minghao finally turned to look at the other person in the room. He didn't look much older than Minghao, at most 2 years. They made fierce eye contact, daring each other to look away.

"He's hurt." Seungcheol pointed to his own palms and knees, making Jihoon the first one to look away.

"Pff, whatever" Heels turned and a door closed before Seungcheol was kneeling in front of Minghao.

"That's Jihoon. He likes you, don't worry. If he didn't, he would have argued more. So how did you get hurt again?" Minghao stared, watching his wounds get cleaned. Sneaking out tomorrow morning was a must, but first, he had to get out of the apartment.

"I know it hurts," Seungcheol kept his hands in place, wrapping more bandages over the wounds, "but they need to be cleaned properly, sit down so I can clean your knees."

Minghao opened his mouth to refuse to let the 'n' sound come out. Seungcheol's head snapped to look at him faster than how he ran away earlier. He shook his head, Seungcheol smiled at him softly and a scream bubbled up in Minghao's throat.

Swallowing it down, he listened to Seungcheol and let his butt fall to the floor.

Just as the bandages were put into place, the guy from before came back into the room, "Come here," he strode towards Minghao and pulled him up by the arm. "Go to the first room you see, doesn't matter which, just stay in there till I get you." He pushed him towards the hallway, Seungcheol's protests were shushed by Jihoon.

"People are coming, you need to convince them that the kid isn't here." Just then, the hollow knocks of skin hitting wood reached their ears.

"Yes?" A soft breeze brushed through the air as the door opened. "Mrs. Hana, what brings you here?"

"Well, your parents went out right? You need a babysitter." Making her way through the door, panic flooded Seungcheol's veins.

"Why is all this medical stuff out? None of you are hurt right?" She lifted Jihoon's arm to check.

"You two are too old to be playing doctor" She looked around again, smiling when she heard the shuffling of feet in another room.

"Shit" Jihoon cursed under his breath.

"Language, Jihoon." The warning came as she made her way through the hallway.

"Mrs. Hana, we can really manage on our own so you don't need to-" The loud screeching from door hinges echoed and Minghao stared from on top the bed like a deer in headlights.

"Why are you hiding a boy. Come here boy" A waving motion caught Minghao's attention and he looked to Seungcheol.

With the nod, the climbed off the bed and shuffled over to the woman.

"What is your name?" The gentle question came. Minghao shook his head, staring at the brown wood.

"Come on, what is your name?" She crouched down to his height, forcing his attention on her. "You cause a lot of trouble don't you" he ripped his hand away from her grip, come of the cuts opened in the result of his fists closing.

"Okay, well I can take care of one more child, but no more trouble." She tapped his fist again.

When they got out, Minghao went straight to the door. As he got his fingers around the brass a loud bang shocked him to the core.

"Where are you going?" The sweet voice asked again. Minghao closed his eyes, willing her to go away. 

'She's going to keep him here forever, I'm never going to see Mom and Dad again...'

"Please let me go" his voice wavered, eyes still closed.

"Hmm, okay. No more trouble, though." The rustling of clothes and footsteps moving away from him got him running down the hallway in milliseconds.

-

At 9:30 that night knock came at the door. Minghao brought himself to the top of the stairs to eavesdrop.

"Hello, Ma'am. Where's your son?" Minghao's fist tightened on the railing when he saw the golden badge. Newly formed scabs opened again. 

"My son? Why do you need my son?"

"He's caused a lot of trouble today and needs to be justified."

He thought back to what he did, went into a store and knocked down a couple of things, it wasn't too bad...

"He's just a young boy, you can't take him to jail!" Minghao's father heard his wife's scream from the kitchen and immediately came running.

"What's this talk about bringing our son to jail?"

"Your son has been in several situations where we could have easily put him in jail, he's been in countless fights and vandalized various stores, including the one today, we've let it go before, with your speeches about how he's too young. He's 12 now, getting older and should be developing a sense of what is right and what is wrong." 

Minghao swallowed the lump in his throat, anxiety flushing over his body. He was going to be taken away. He closed his eyes and bit his lip, reopening another wound from earlier today. He felt the unhealed cuts on his skin pressing against the wooden columns supporting the stairs and himself.

It wasn't the first time the police came to his house, they came before, the time he played a prank on the convenience store, and the time he caused a commotion at the movie theater, then there was the time he started a fight with another boy at the park, and another fight at school, the one a few weeks ago...

"Please, give him one more chance, I promise he'll stop the bad habits. I'll talk to him, convince him to stop it." Her voice broke the same time the tears from Minghao's cheeks dampened a spot on his shorts.

'I don't want to go' He took a broken breath through his nose as the officer continued to explain the situation.

"We can't do that, it'll only be a night, it won't even go on his record, just giving him a taste of what might happen if he chooses to continue these actions. We cannot let his behavior slide as he gets older, it would lead to him becoming even more dangerous and we know you don't want that for your son."

"Do you really have to take him?"

Minghao was smearing tears on his face and wiping the residue on his shorts.

"Yes Ma'am, he needs to know the consequences of his actions."

Minghao made his way down the stairs, watching the steps disappear behind him. He went to far, this time, he never wanted to be taken away. Two doors shut behind him, two thousand tears ran down his face, he looked back at his house and spotted his parents staring out the window together.

'No More Trouble' He promised to himself.


	6. It's Been Said

Sunlight came through the window, warming up the room more than comfortable, finally waking up a sleeping Soonyoung. Palming the other side of the bed he searched for his significant other.

"Jihoon, where are you?" His face was buried underneath the covers, blocking the sun. He kicked around more, refusing to admit Jihoon wasn't there.

"Jihoon-IE!" A loud thud was made when Soonyoung hit the floor. Thankfully the blankets fell with him but the heat was beginning to get unbearable. Digging himself out from underneath all the fluff, he groggily looked around the room.

Jihoon was nowhere to be seen but his nose picked up the scent of breakfast. A smile made it's way on his face sleepily as he stretched. He threw the blankets onto the bed and stood by the mess for a while, wondering if should fix it or not.

The smell of eggs hit is nose again, stomach choosing for him, he made his way towards his Jihoonie.

"There he is, the best boyfriend in the world, the one that understands me the most, my lover, my other half-mph" toast was blocking his words from coming out, held there by his blushing other half.

"Youf shtil bruff a wot" Soonyoung said through the toast, sending some crumbs flying. Grossed out, Jihoon faced the frying pan, stopping the eggs from getting burned.

"Shut up and sit down at the table. The food'll be ready soon." He pointed to the eating place with his chin.

Before he followed directions Soonyoung wrapped his arms around Jihoon's neck and buried his face in the pink hair like he did last night. Kissing the swirl and nuzzling into the smell of Jihoon.

"If this is because of last night, I'm not mad at you, go sit down" He transferred the eggs to the plate and walked towards the toaster, Soonyoung held on all the while.

"I just want to hug you. Can you sit on my lap today? Would you let me feed you?" His head dropped to the other's neck and arms wrapped around his middle. Soonyoung swayed them back and forth, knowing Jihoon loved the gesture.

"No, get off." Instead of making a move to get out of Soonyoung's hold, Jihoon took the fresh toast out of the toaster and set it on the plate then made his way towards the table.

"C'mon please?" His lips touched Jihoon's neck gently.

"Nope, get off and eat, the food is ready and I have work." He was being lead to the table and Jihoon finally tried to break free from the hug.

"That mean Seungcheol, taking you away from me" Soonyoung finally got off, searching himself for his phone.

"I told you, he's with Jeonghan, he's so in love he's thinking about naming a drink after him." Jihoon poked the egg with his fork and set it on the bread. "What are you looking for?" Taking a bite of the toast the crunch filled the kitchen along with the sound of Soonyoung's mutters.

"My phone, I have to tell Jun to meet me at the coffee shop." He found the small device on the counter.

"If you're coming with me to work you better eat now, text Jun when we get to the coffee shop." Jihoon took a drink from his glass and motioned to the seat across from him with his other hand.

He didn't want to make Jihoon mad so early in the morning, knowing there was a possibility he would get mad later. Drifting back to the table, he thanked Jihoon for the food and began to stuff his face in.

-

It was almost 1 in the afternoon, Junhui woke up from the sound of his phone vibrating against his dresser.

"Mfh, go away." He swatted the phone off the wooden platform, letting it vibrate against the carpet. The soft buzzing rang in Jun's head and he tried to avoid the responsibility for a little longer, covering his head with the pillows and piling blankets on top.

With a scream of agony, he threw the blankets and pillows onto the floor, making another quest for himself. "Damn it where's my phone?" Blankets and pillows made their way onto the king sized bed, leaving a frustrated Jun glaring at the notices.

"What does Hoshi want so early in the morning?" He rubbed his eyes and manually clicked his voicemail.

"You need to be at the coffee shop at 2. Next message. The one Minghaow! Works at okay? Next message. JUNHUI WAKE UP I'M HERE AND I'M BORED." All made just a few minutes ago. Dumbly staring at his phone for a while longer he wondered what it was about. Mind not completely working 'so early in the morning' he stood to make his bed.

Entering his living room he finally checked the time. When it read 1:45 he mentally made fun of himself. With his stomach growling he walked over to the fridge, a quick breakfast before a meet up never hurt anyone, it wouldn't hurt Hoshi.

Just when he finished putting the dairy back in the fridge a knock came at his door. A thought crossed his mind that it was Hoshi but he has keys.

"Yes?" He met the delivery man.

"You have a small package," He held out the box with a clipboard underneath. Jun thought about what he ordered, nothing came to mind.

"Nice to see you again Joshua but I didn't make an order for anything... Are you sure it's for me?" He leaned in to check the address and sure enough, it belonged to him. "Well, I guess it won't hurt to take it. Thanks..." He took the box in one hand and stuck the other into his pocket for a wallet. "Hold on." He handed the box back to Joshua and signed the clipboard with his right hand distractedly.

"No, no, it's okay" Joshua held his hands up.

"Wait there!" Jun said from the hallway, trying to find his wallet.

He checked his drawers, the pockets of his old jeans, and made a mess of his bed all over again. "By the fruits!" He sprinted back out towards the kitchen.

When he reached the door Joshua was gone and the box was on his doorstep with a green sticky note attached.

'I don't need the tip, thanks, though! -Joshua' Jun shook his head, "Stupid Soonyoung getting people to not take my money" he muttered.

Speaking of Soonyoung, he remembered his cereal and got emotional over the soggy fruit flavored pebbles. Draining it, he filled the bowl with water before changing, deciding he could just get a meal at the shop, he could make Soonyoung pay too.

After he got ready he checked his phone, it was a little past 2 and Soonyoung was freaking out.

"Where are you?!? I told you I was bored and alone!" The whine came through loud enough Jun could have heard it without the speaker one.

"Calm down, I'm putting my shoes on, I'm guessing you want me to drive?"

"I am not waiting a whole 20 minutes, get your butt over here." Jun rolled his eyes and finally got his shoe on without the shoelaces being untied.

"Yeah, I'll be there in 5 at most bye." He reached up and ended the call, yanking his left shoe on. Gasping in victory, he did a little dance on his butt before getting up. Double checking he had everything he spotted the bright green sticky note Joshua left him earlier and remembered the package.

"Ehh, not like Soonyoung never left me waiting before." A knife swiftly split the clear tape before being put in its original spot. "Let's see here..." with a swift, dramatic move, he opened the box.

"A.... magnolia..." The spit ran down his throat and the flower landed on wood. Jun shook his head, clearing of all things negative, "It's just a flower Jun, it's probably not even from...." Mingming, the tag said.

Shoving the flower back into the box, he strode over to the door, slamming it shut, box in hand then in the trashcan.

He patted himself down as he made his way to the car, thank God Soonyoung asked him to meet up.

-

He made his way through the door slowly, what if Hoshi was pulling a prank on him and the shop wasn't even open yet. His eyes made around and he saw said blond talking to the scary worker.

The worker wasn't glaring or anything, though, he was... blushing. The fear turned into warmth and he smiled, they looked good together. He moved towards the table his flowers were on the day before and waited, watching the two.

The scary worker, Jun remembered his name tag saying Woozi, looked over at him and he panicked a bit, not knowing what to do. Hoshi looked over his own shoulder at Jun before mentioning something to Woozi.

Thinking they were talking about him, he checked himself as Hoshi came over. He was wearing a simple black shirt and light blue jeans, he thought he looked rather nice in it.

"You finally came," Hoshi said nonchalantly. Crossing his legs underneath the table just to feel classy.

"I'm a few minutes late." Jun brushed it off, leaning against the backrest. Jutting his head towards the counter he asked, "You made friends anyway. Didn't you say you knew someone that worked here too?"

"That's him, his name is Jihoon."

"I met him the first day I came here."

"How'd it go? He's a bit intimidating huh?" Hoshi grinned at Jun's behavior, the hunched back and crossed arms- telltale sign Jun was embarrassed. Though he didn't really know what to expect from either of them.

"A bit? I thought he was going to kill me!" He continued his story about how he didn't notice the sign, glaring at all the snickers Hoshi let out. Since he was already turned towards the door he witnessed Minghao walking in.

Minghao looked towards the counter first and smiled at Jihoon before his eyes caught the hand moving to and fro.

Jun hid his face, glaring at Hoshi, trying to get the hand to go back down he kicked his feet and stepped on toes.

"Stop playing footsies with me, I'm taken." Hoshi teased and finally set his hand down. Of course, after succeeding his mission in getting Minghao to walk towards them. Jun stuck his tongue out but straightened his back and smiled once Minghao was close.

"Hey, it's a surprise to see you guys here." He pulled out the third chair and sat down awkwardly. Jun was tracing the design on the tables and Hoshi was shooting lazer beams.

Coughing, he managed to catch both Minghao and Jun's attention. "Jun, don't you have something to say to Minghao?" The name came out a little harsh, the second mentioned worried.

"Uhh..." The helpless couple looked at each other, Jun mustered enough courage to get out, "I was the one that gave you the flowers."

Hoshi kicked his leg so he bit his lip to keep in the cry. "Really? Why?" Minghao ignored the pain painting it's way onto Jun's face, worries washing away as he started piecing together what Hoshi said last night and what just happened.

"Uhhh...-"

"KWON SOONYOUNG YOUR ORDER IS READY" Hoshi sat there, smiling like he was deaf before taking a deep breath.

"I DIDN'T ORDER ANYTHING!" he yelled back. Minghao and Jun looked around to give apologetic gestures towards the customers.

"Just get your butt over here," Jihoon muttered.

"If you would excuse me." He mock bowed and left his chair idle, not before he kicked Jun again and gave Minghao a wink.

"So what brought you here?"

"My friend, the one the just called Soonyoung, he told me to come over, some sort of emergency. It's kind of weird nothing was going on, Jihoon doesn't usually do that kind of stuff. So... why the flowers?" He pressed.

Jun was still thinking about what Minghao said, Jihoon. Hoshi just told him his friend's name is Jihoon. Jihoon is also Minghao's friend. If he told Minghao to come here and Jun was told to come here too...

"That's why he was so mad about me being late." He snapped his fingers then pointed at Minghao. "Hoshi was screaming at me earlier today to come down here, he probably wanted me to get here before you did so I could ask you out." He shook his finger proudly. So proud that he didn't fully process what he said.

"Sure," Minghao smiled, chuckling at Jun's realization face.

"Wait what?"

"I would like to go out with you." He explained.

Pink lips belonging to a certain Wen Junhui separated and came together several times in shock. Pink lips of a certain Xu Minghao stretched to form a smile on the gentle face.

"Oh my god" Jun buried his face in his arms and groaned. He felt a hand running through his hair and sighed.

"What's wrong? Why did you sigh?" Minghao's voice came really close. Jun peeked through and met the sight of Minghao's brown eyes. He felt the heat move towards his face and took cover once again. Minghao's laugh blessed his ears for the second time and the question was repeated.

"That wasn't how I wanted to ask you." He admitted.

"How were you planning on asking me?" Shrugging his shoulders and straightening his arms he finally got a full look at Minghao.

He was wearing a gray hoodie and a black snapback with a yellow strap. It was cute and Jun found heat storing in his cheeks again.

"I didn't plan it out really, I was waiting a while to even ask you."

"I know." He fixed his hat, taking it off to fluff his hair before putting it back on.

"You know?" Jun fixed his own hair, he didn't style it up like he usually did and felt a bit naked without the slight heaviness.

"Oh," It was Minghao turning red now. "Yeah, Soonyoung came by my house yesterday and told me about how scared you were." He bit his lip, knowing Jun wouldn't like what he said, neither would Soonyoung.

"He did what??" Jun made his way towards the counter, Minghao followed apologetically.

"You told Minghao that I like him?" He grabbed Soonyoung by the caller, catching the amused look Woozi put on by his peripherals.

"I didn't tell him that, I just said I wanted you to ask him out yesterday but you didn't." Jun's glare intensified but he let Hoshi go.

"Aw, you could have hurt him for me. I recommend a slap but a punch would suffice" Jihoon suggested. Jun nodded thoughtfully.

"How rude. My best friend and my boyfriend both want to harm me. At least Minghao's nice." Hoshi ran and hugged the other.

"Soonyoung if you don't get off of him I'm not only harming you, I'm killing you," Jihoon warned through his teeth.

"Cute," Jun told Jihoon, who glared with a blush. Jun expected the blush to cushion some of the intensity bit it made his smile disappear as quickly as it came.

"Oh, Hoshi I have to tell you something." He moved closer to whisper but the topic of the sentence came through the door. All 4 turned.

"Welcome to Q&A Cafe what would you like to order?" Jihoon did his job, Soonyoung was motioning him to stop the whole time but it was his job, he couldn't not take the customer's order.

"I'm actually meeting someone. Junhui!!" Mingming hugged the other from the side, looking up at him lovingly. Jun smiled down nervously, wondering if the current situation was actually happening or if he was going to wake up from this nightmare.

"M-Ming..." He slowly managed to hug the other back before Mingming moved away. Jun took in such a deep breath he thought his lungs were going to explode. He let out a small, "What brings you here?"

"Well, I just got back in town a few days ago, looking at all the new buildings they out up, not much. Anyway, I saw you in here laughing with Hoshi -"

"Soonyoung," said male corrected.

"Soonyoung. And I just wanted to come and catch up, how have you been? I missed you!" He took the chance to swoop in for another hug, freezing Jun on the spot and rendering him speechless.

Minghao analyzed the whole exchange, who was the guy? He looked at Soonyoung to ask the question but what he saw were arms flying around and a mouth barely making out words.

'What?' Minghao mouthed back, shoulders moving up and down in confusion.

Hoshi was making a hoop with his arms and a calm face, before affirmatively pointing towards frozen Jun. Minghao trailed his eyes back and forth, still not understanding what Hoshi was trying to say.

With frustrated movement, Hoshi hopped behind the counter, grabbed Jihoon by the caller and pulled him into a hug. When he let go he pointed to Minghao and then to Jun.

Finally understanding the message that took so long to send, Minghao bit his lip and copied what Mingming did before, except instead of having eyes full of love and adoration, his were filled with worry and confusion.

Jun's head snapped down towards Minghao like he had forgotten where he was. He looked between Minghao and Mingming so fast he got dizzy.

"Jun... I was wondering, about the date. Do you wanna go on it now?" He looked up at the other, trying to tell him to say yes with his eyes. Once Jun nodded Minghao grabbed his hand and ran out of the shop.

"Who was that guy?" He asked once it was safe.

They ran around the cafe towards Minghao's car, they didn't have time to search for Jun's. He quickly set Jun in the passenger's seat and advised him to buckle up quickly before shutting the door and hopping into the driver's seat. With the keys in the ignition, he started up the engine and sped away from the parking lot. Jun didn't even complain about his driving and it was as bad, if not worse, than last time.

"My ex-fiance," Jun admitted, closing his eyes and willing the memories away, watching people and buildings blur past the window. He willed himself not to cry in front of Minghao. He felt a hand run up and down his back in support and it caused tears come to his eyes faster than they would have if he was left alone. "Minghao please-"

"Sh, it's okay to cry, we're just driving, no one can hear you but me." he soothed Jun's arm, slowing down in an attempt to get Jun calmer. "Sorry about the driving again."

A sniffling sound came from Jun's nose and Minghao knew tears were falling, he was glad because he knew holding in tears would just cause more trouble for him in the future.

"N-no, I'm fine I promise." Jun wiped the tears away, biting his lips to keep his breathing regular and gripped the armrest to calm his nerves.

"Jun I want you to cry."

A bittersweet laugh, that sounded more like a sob, came through instead. Minghao looked at him for a moment before returning his eyes on the road, an accident wouldn't be helpful at the moment.

"There's nothing to cry about, people get cold feet, and people leave. It's normal really, I don't-" he interrupted himself with another sharp breath, "I don't even know why I'm crying."

Visions of the empty room, the envelope, the flowers scattered on the floor, bouquets, setting up, getting ready, waking up happy that day. All the feelings and emotions he kept bottled in came out, flooding his brain. He remembered the time they went out on an amusement park date. It was Jun's idea because Mingming was afraid of heights. Jun forced the other on every ride, even the children ones. He ended up having to comfort the raging Mingming but it was all worthwhile, at the time. Happiness turned bittersweet and Jun couldn't look at anything.

He loved Mingming, loved him with all his heart, he gave him everything he wanted. All the things Mingming asked for, all the food Mingming wanted to try, all the places Mingming wanted to visit in the year, all engraved into Jun's memory, reminding him of a mistake. The thoughts that Minghao could turn out the exact same came to his mind right on cue. Tears fell down his cheeks in realization.

He really liked Minghao, he probably really liked the other when he came to pay Jun. He admits it to himself as uncontrollable sobs wracked his body. Minghao was nice, caring, selfless; all the things Jun thought Mingming was. Heck, they even had the same first part of their name. He wanted to trust Minghao, he wanted to trust Soonyoung's words.

"I really, really want to date you Minghao." Jun breathed, calming himself down, looking at the empty parking lot. "But I'm scared." He touched the window, looking out towards the empty parking lot. He didn't know when they got to the empty park but he was glad Minghao brought them there.

Minghao wasn't fond of the idea that popped into his head but he knew Jun needed reassurance. "Want me to tell you about when I was younger?" He asked, touching Jun's shoulder trying to comfort him again. Jun didn't turn to face him when he nodded.

"Well, I was really different when I was younger." He started, bringing his hand back to fiddle with the hem of his sweater."I used to go around, vandalizing stuff and ruining stores and pulling pranks." Jun heard the nervous laugh and took a peek at the storyteller.

"Yeah. I uh... I went to jail for it actually" he blinked, trying to hold in the tears resting on his bottom eyelid. He pushed his arms out against the steering wheel, stretching in a way. "And I have slight, maybe not slight, separation anxiety." He stopped stretching and hunched over the wheel. "So yeah. That night I promised myself I would never do anything bad." He finished, wiping his eyes and taking a deep breath.

Jun wondered how hard it was for Minghao to say that. To admit a story that changed his life, literally. His admiration towards Minghao grew just a tad.

"Thank you," Jun said, wiping his own tears away.

"Yeah, I really like you too, actually" he laughed, the sound of him exhaling made Jun's smile come back. "I felt that, if you were scared of me changing, you should know that I won't."

"Mingming ditched me at church and took a bunch of my money." He leaned back in the chair his nose was still red but hearing that Minghao wasn't about that life anymore, it calmed him. "I really loved him at the time so, when he wasn't walking towards the alter..." a thick swallow clumped up in his throat and his jaw tightened.

"It felt kind of surreal, ironic in a way." They nodded at the same time, silence filled the car until Jun suddenly turned towards Minghao.

"Minghao," Jun started, "I was the one that gave you the flowers." He leaned closer to instruct the other on how to reply "Ask why" he whispered.

"Why?" The question was tilted a little so it came out in a humor filled voice.

"Because I needed a way to get you to go on a date with me. Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Rolling his eyes, Minghao nodded, staring up his car again he pulled out of the driveway. "Where are we going?" He looked towards the back just to make sure he wouldn't hit anything, pressing n the acceleration.

"You see, I haven't really planned it out." His finger was buried in hair, move along the scalp by the nail.

"Pfft, okay, that's fine, I have an idea of what we could do. Let's get your car first." With that, he made his way back to the Cafe.


	7. Cute

"Where did you park?" Minghao asked when they reached a close stoplight, though, it was closer to Jun's house than his car.

"Uh, the part behind... You know, the..." Jun made gestures, the word he was trying to say slipped from his mind.

"The sign in the back?" Minghao cleared.

"Yeah... How did you know I drove my car?" Jun wondered.

"I guessed, if you didn't we wouldn't be going back to the cafe. You would have stopped me at some point." Minghao shrugged. Jun nodded at the analysis, it made sense.

"So you want me to follow you? Jun unbuckled his seat belt as they rounded the coffee place.

Minghao shook his head, "No, I'll be following you to your house and from there you're going to park your car then come tight back out so I can drive you to the place I have in mind."

Jun was about to get out, Minghao was parked perfectly beside his car but a realization made him freeze. "I was the one that asked you on the date right? Shouldn't I be driving?"

Minghao thought about how to reply, "You don't know where to go, so I'll drive."

Jun mumbled something about directions under his breath but got out if the car nonetheless

-

"So where are we going?" He stepped his foot through and into the car, pushing himself into the seat.

"A place I used to go when I was younger." Minghao locked the doors, checked his mirrors then drove off.

"You sure?" Jun worried if he was doing this to reassure Jun more it was doing the opposite "I-"

"I'm sure, I go there often. Not as much as before, but still a lot. I think you'll like it." Minghao waved off most of Jun's worries, leaving only the thought that Minghao might not have a good time.

"Oh, I just remembered, your name tags at the cafe. They aren't your real names. Why is yours The8?" He thrummed his fingers on the armrest, waiting for Minghao to reply.

"A sideways 8 is an infinity sign, it's kind of like a promise to myself that I've changed forever and won't change back."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to remind you-"

Minghao's laugh both shocked him and calmed him down, "Jun you're thinking too much. I'm not going to break down, I've been remembering it every day for the past 10 years. Yeah, it messes me up a little, but I get over it." He assured.

"Okay..." Jun stayed silent for a while, thinking to himself. Minghao didn't say anything either and it reminded Jun of their first date.

"Where's your phone?"

Minghao took one hand off the wheel to pat his pockets. They weren't in his front ones so he felt the back. Fishing the device out of his hands he handed it to Jun then set his hand back on the wheel.

"Thank you." Jun gladly took the cellular device and pressed the power button. Swiping the lock screen to the right he met a code. "What's the pattern?" He tried a simple square, the phone buzzed in his hand, 2 tries left.

"Give me," Minghao held out his hand, once he felt the familiar weight he shifted it and held his thumb down on the screen.

Once Jun got the phone back he easily found the contacts button. "You only have like, 4 contacts," Jun stated.

"Really?! I didn't know! Thanks, everything makes sense now!" Minghao's sarcasm brought out a small laugh from both of them. "I'm not exactly a social butterfly." The car was slowing to a stop.

Jun's thumbs flew over the keyboard, typing in the digits before hitting the save button. He felt the slight jolt from the car being set to park before sending a small message to himself.

"Phone." Minghao held out his hand again then moved it towards his pocket. His door opened and closed, making Jun's do the same.

"You go to the storage unit?" Jun pointed towards the building. Shaking his head, Minghao grabbed Jun's hand and proceeded to drag him towards the side, past the building, towards the bridge they just drove on.

"Here?" Jun pointed down at the concrete slope, it was steeper than he would like it to be and the dirt at the end didn't look very inviting. He would turn towards Minghao and ask if there was another way but the sound of shoes scraping a wall was heard and the black snap back came into his view.

"It's safe Jun, just lean back and don't try to go too fast. I promise I'll catch you if you fall." Minghao's hands extended away from his body, smile comforting the fear inside the other.

With a step, he felt how steep the wall really was. His hand was in the dirt as his other foot joined its twin. He kept his hand on the wall the whole way down. Thankfully no red marks appeared on his skin, only white ones that disappeared as he dusted them off.

"Good job, see? You're fine and it's completely safe." He pat Jun's back before beckoning him to follow deeper under the bridge.

Jun admired the walls. Although he knew graffiti is a form of vandalism, the art was really amazing. "Did you decorate all of this?"

Jun's hands slammed against a wall, catching himself from impending harm. Minghao started cracking up but still made his way over to the poor guy.

"Decorated is a funny word." Minghao's laugh lessened and he helped Jun get his foot out of the hole. Once they were both steady, Minghao went back to where he was going. "But yeah, some of them are recent."

Jun avoided any more spots that could make him fall, struggling to keep up. When Minghao finally stopped it was on a platform made by another slope.

Jun let out a sigh, wondering if he could do it. "I haven't taken physical education in 9 years." He mentioned, making his way to Minghao. Grabbing the offered hand he was able to sit at the top.

"Yet you made it up here. This is the last of the struggle till we go back, I promise." Minghao made a motion and crossed his heart. Jun looked down at the ground below. It wasn't much different from the view of the first slope.

"Till we go back you say" Jun laughed, leaning back not minding the dirt.

"Well, you don't want to be stuck down here do you?" Minghao sat next to him and followed his gaze.

"What do we do now?"

Minghao shrugged, "I just felt like showing you this." He gestured to the open area.

"What do you usually do here?"

Another shrug, "I just come here to think most of the time. When I was little I used to stuff a backpack full of food and camp out here for a while." Jun was looking around, at the view.

There wasn't any water, just land. There were trees and tall grass on either side of the pillars. His eyes followed the dirt path between the graffiti-covered concrete poles supporting the structure above them. He could see the hole he tripped in.

"Did I ever ask you about your latest one?" Jun remembered the words from earlier and pointed towards the little artworks. Minghao was standing and held out his hand for Jun to take.

Being led to the farther side of the ledge was nice, the view seemed bigger when he was standing up and he could see more trees in the distance. Minghao was turned towards the wall and Jun instinctively followed suit.

As he stood next to Minghao he saw the swirl of blue and white, he smiled.

"The flowers." He said softly, he saw the hat on Minghao's head move and guessed that he was nodding.

"I didn't know who got them for me, and I didn't think I would figure it out anytime soon," Jun felt an elbow hit his side "So I thought that I could, at least, acknowledge who did it for me by painting it here. You know flowers don't last forever, but I wanted these ones too."

"That was unexpectedly really deep." Jun got out before laughing. Minghao went red but Jun comforted him, "Not that I hate deep stuff and phrases, I just wasn't expecting that you know?" He tried to explain best he could. "It feels nice to know that it's technically dedicated to me."

"I could go over it with white," Minghao commented causally, Jun's terrified look got him cracking up. "I'm kidding Jun, this'll stay."

Letting out the breath he was holding, he looked towards the pillars, "Are any of those like that?" He pointed, "Are any others made because someone did something nice for you?"

"No, I've always known who gave me what and who did something for me, so I never really felt a need to paint it on here."

"What would you have painted if you never found out I paid for your meal that time ago?" Minghao scratched his head, thinking hard.

"I don't know, I wouldn't have drawn money." He knew for sure, "I think that if I drew money it wouldn't give the same feeling. Maybe some sort of deformed coffee mug, or 'Q&A' I don't know." His ideas weren't the best when he had to really think about it.

"Don't you think you would have gotten in a lot of trouble if you painted the bridge?" He brought the question up consciously, he didn't want to trigger the bad memories for Minghao.

"No, no one really comes down here but the occasional homeless and me. I'd always run here, they would never find me. I don't even think they know you could go down here. It's a quiet, safe place that only a few know of."

"You, me and the hobos?"

"You, me and the hobos Jun," Minghao said in all seriousness before snickering. Jun joined in and soon the two were having breathing problems.

Making their way back to the center ledge, Jun's stomach made a noise and he remembered the plans he had for Hoshi earlier that day didn't go as he thought it would. He played it off, acting like he didn't hear anything.

Minghao had heard it, though, the low growl in the pit of Jun's stomach, "You didn't eat yet?" Jun felt the hard look Minghao gave off without even turning.

"I know it's bad but I woke up really late, and Hoshi was calling me to come to the cafe, I was going to eat before I went but someone came to my door and then my cereal was soggy and then I had to go because Hoshi was yelling but then when I got there you came and then Mingming came and then we came here and I never really ate." He uttered.

Minghao was worried about Jun's breathing, waiting for him to catch his breath before asking him more questions. "What do you feel like eating?"

"What do you feel like eating?" Jun countered.

"Just choose something," Minghao shoved him slightly.

"Can't we just drive around and look? I can't think of anything off the top of my head." Jun made his way down the slope, dirt flew everywhere, billowing and making Minghao look like he magically appeared.

"It's up to you, I'm paying" Minghao walked passed him down the dirt path, smirking to himself when he heard Jun's cries of protest.

"You're not going to pay for me!" Jun ran past, "Whoever gets to the car first is paying for the meal!" Jun stuck his tongue out but he forgot about the hole earlier. A falling sensation ran throughout his body and he felt his arm move in a way that wasn't all comfortable. Groaning he tried to extend his other arm to the floor but it never touched.

His feet were being properly set on the floor again and an arm was being wrapped around his waist. Jun looked to the left and saw Minghao gritting his teeth from carrying Jun's dead weight, trying to get him up again. He tried standing properly and nothing seemed out of place.

They walked a couple of steps together until they reached the second slope.

"You know I'm getting tired of these things" He felt Minghao's breath on his shoulder in short puffs.

"You're funny, go first. If you fall I'll be able to catch you." Minghao took Jun's arm off from around his neck and waited for him to get going.

Jun looked clueless for a second, this slope was a lot steeper than the other one and it was taller too, Minghao gave him a reassuring look, teasing him by saying he would get a rope if it was too hard.

Like before, Jun was able to get up on the first try, no rope needed. He reached his hand out for Minghao even though he was positive the other didn't need it. Minghao didn't let the gesture go to vain and took it gratefully.

After Jun brought him to his feet, Minghao checked the time. "When was the last time you ate?" He ushered then both to the car.

"Like... nine I think? I had a big meal, though-"

"A big meal nineteen hours ago."

"I'm not dying Minghao, don't worry. When was the last time you ate?"

"Twelve"

-

"I can't believe," Jun walked out of the buffet, laughing at Minghao's words. He pat his stomach and gave a series of burps loud enough to cause attention.

"C'mon Minghao did you really expect me to let you pay?" Jun grinned over his shoulder and looked for the car. He saw flashing lights and made his way over.

"It was a buffet, though! One of the cheaper ones too! I could have easily paid for us both!" Minghao threw the car door open, Jun slid into the passenger's seat.

"True, you could have. The point here, though," a familiar click sounded, "is that you didn't." Minghao's pout fueled his confidence, "See, this is exactly why you need to have more contacts, you'll be able to tell them in secret, what to do when you're trying to surprise a date."

"Yeah, yeah," Minghao grumbled something underneath his breath and Jun was sure that it was very un-Minghao like. He saw his building come closer and the feeling in his chest changed the slightest bit, just enough to let him know he didn't want the date to end.

"Did you wanna come inside for a while?" Jun unbuckled the strap and touched the handle to the door. Minghao raised his eyebrows back at him.

"Aren't you moving a little too fast there?" Heat rushed towards Jun's cheeks and his hand left the handle to cover his face.

"That's- oh my god that's- MINGHAO!" Jun's hands were flying everywhere and his feet were dangerous as well.

"Relax Jun! I was just messing with you. I would love to, but I can't. I have to help my sibling with ideas for college applications. Just call me if you ever wanna hang out okay?" He said through the window.

Jun wondered why he was still living with his parents but then remembered Minghao's separation anxiety. He waved the other off and watched his car disappear into the distance before entering the warm apartment building.

-

Jun woke up the next morning to his doorbell. It was 8:18, the number of hours he counted on his fingers was 7, not bad considering he got more than 10 the day before. Throwing his blankets aside, he made himself presentable.

"Hello again Joshua, how are you today?" Jun yawned into his hand and looked at the package, it was another flower no doubt, Jun was already planning on throwing it in the trash.

"Good, how about you Jun? Did you just wake up?" He handed the clipboard to the other, the same drill.

"Yeah, I actually woke up because of the doorbell, thank you, though. I would have gotten in trouble if I didn't eat again." He scrubbed his eye with the back of his hand, knowing what he said and not really caring. "It's a long story, take this tip," Jun swiped the 10 dollar bill off the drawer next to the door.

Some people would say that the way Jun slammed the door was rude but he did give Joshua 10 dollars. He shook his head when Joshua knocked on his door. "I'm not taking it back Joshua, just go and get your girlfriend something to eat.

He heard a muffled 'I don't have a girlfriend' through the door. He checked the peephole, finally using it for once, to make sure Joshua was gone. Only seeing the patterned carpet he smiled and made his way towards the kitchen for some cereal.

He eyed the package the whole meal, it was getting on his nerves. He wished he threw it out before he ate, but it would have been risky if Joshua was still outside. He chased the last bit of cereal around the bowl for a while before he finally got up and trashed it.

He scrolled through his contact list, almost tripping on the way to his room. He pressed call before throwing his phone on the bed, as well as his shirt.

"Hello?" The voice came through and Jun stopped for a while, he hadn't meant to call Minghao. Walking over to the phone again, he checked the name. "Hello? Jun?" Minghao called again.

"Hey, Minghao!" He shrugged and returned to the closet, trying to find a suitable shirt for the day.

"Hey, not to sound rude, but why did you call?" Jun pulled out a yellow and brown flannel from the closet and searched for a black shirt.

"Oh, I was just wondering what you were doing today" He found a shirt and light blue jeans with rips at the knees.

"I'm shopping right now, I don't know if I can hang out today, I have to clean around the house after this." Minghao sounded so apologetic and Jun came up with a plan.

"Where do you shop?" He finished pulling the flannel on. Spinning the keys in his hand his door opened and closed.

"I just got to Mansae Market," Jun grinned unknowingly to Minghao, he went with the plan perfectly.

"Great!" The only thing Jun heard before he pressed the end button were Minghao's empty threats.

"He can't kill me, now to walk or drive?" Mansae Market was around the general area of the cafe.

He looked up at the sky, it was a nice day, big, fluffy clouds that brought no threat of rain, wind was cooling his face. Walk it is. He whistled on his way.

"Junhui!" Mrs. Hana came out of her shop quickly so she could catch the boy. "Did Minghao like the flowers?"

A painting popped into his mind and he nodded, "He loves them."

"Told you they were his favorite flowers. What are yours?" She gestured towards the shop. Jun had to think about it for a while. They used to be magnolias but they reminded him of unwanted memories.

"I don't have one. If I did, though, it would be something common, simple. A flower that everyone knows yet it's not exactly normal. Are there any that give off that feeling?"

She smiled wide and Jun honestly found it creepy. Taking his arm, she dragged him into the store, past the young boy helping her, and directly towards the flowers on her mind.

"White roses?" He picked one up and twirled it in his fingers, he smiled and smelled the white flower.

"Roses are almost always the ones people think of then they are told of a flower." She passionately started, "These are becoming more popular, for the difference in color, but most people still like the original red. A common flower yet this one, not commonly asked for." She pushed the flower towards him some more and nodded her head.

"No, I couldn't." He began to move it back towards her but she gave him that stern look again.

"Take it. Give it to Minghao if you really don't want to keep it." She waved him off and turned her back.

Sneaking up to the young boy he saw earlier he tapped his shoulder. He seemed shocked for a moment, looking around as if he were being attacked.

"Calm down!" Jun panicked, "I just, want you to make it look like I took this-"

"Lee Chan you better not be listening to that Junhui! Leave him now and come help me with these bouquets!" Jun sighed and the youngster gave an apologetic look before running to help the lady.

Maybe he would just give the flower to Minghao.

Just as he entered the market, he saw a certain head of hair and turned his heels quicker than a kid on one of those spinning office chairs. He turned left into a small alleyway but the person he was trying to avoid just followed him.

"Is the flower for the one that hugged you yesterday?"

Jun straightened his back as he entered a more open space.

"No, the shop owner gave it to me for free." Jun was shocked by the stable sound of his voice, he was expecting himself to be shaking.

"You were going to give it to him, weren't you?" Jun finally faced Mingming.

"Yeah, I was."

"You like him?" Mingming asked he seemed sincerely concerned. Jun felt the urge to hug him and pretend it was all better like he never left.

"Yeah, I do actually," Jun said, staring at the flower, he just remembered that there were white roses in the bouquet he gave Minghao.

"More than you love me?" Mingming challenged that broke Jun from the trance he was in. There was something wrong about the sentence, he replayed it in his mind a couple of times. "Heh, I knew it-"

"Loved." Jun interrupted, "I loved you, I don't... love you anymore." He continued to shock himself as no waver disrupted his voice. "I don't like Minghao as much as I loved you, but I feel..." He looked down at the white rose again and remembered the gentian. "I'll get there."

Something in Mingming's face changed, it went from teasing to horrified. "Jun. Jun I still love you-"

"Yeah because when you love someone, you take all the money and belongings they gave you then walk out on them when it's time to get married. I'm sure you love me Mingming." Jun's sarcasm was sharper than a knife.

"Jun we were just moving too fast! I didn't know how to tell you-"

"Mingming, even if you do love me. I'm not taking you back, and I can't forgive you for walking out on the wedding day. Like I said," he took a step closer, he saw the tears forming in Mingming's eyes and a little bit of him believed the words said. "I loved you, but... I don't anymore." Jun shoved his way past the shocked ex, squeezing himself through the narrow passage, finally taking the shaky breath he needed.

He heard Mingming saying something but the crash of garbage cans disrupted his attention. Up the alleyway, he saw a familiar figure trying to set the trashcans back up. He rushed himself to hurry and help the guy.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Jun's blush spread across his face but not as much as Minghao's.

"Pfft, no I just, tripped is all. It happens all the time." He flipped his hair and wiped his hands on his jeans.

"Whatever, let me help you carry the groceries to the car, I don't really want to stay here." Jun looked down the alleyway, watching Mingming stare at them. He ushered Minghao to move faster, grabbing the plastic bags.

"Since you heard what happened back there, I want you to know, I'm not expecting you to say the same for me." Jun ended the awkwardness once they got to the car. Minghao was already inside and Jun had just shut the passenger's entrance, bags next to his feet.

"I-Jun I" Minghao started, but Jun shook his head.

"You don't have to say anything now, I'll wait for your answer." He crossed his arms behind his head and used them as a pillow.

"I never said I would give you a ride!" Mingahao's face reminded Jun of a certain pink head.

"Yeah, well." Jun waved him off with his hands, smirking when he heard Minghao's scoff. "I'm helping you with your groceries. I'll even help you clean your house!"


	8. Events

Same Day

It was awkward for the most part, Minghao was still feeling flushed from the recent event and Jun didn't want to make him feel even more uncomfortable. Maybe jumping into the car wasn't the best idea but he couldn't think of staying out there with Mingming.

"I still have to stop by another store," Minghao brought up just as they were turning into a parking lot.

"Go figure." Jun retorted teasingly, it wafted some of the tension away when they smirked at each other. "What are you buying here?" They were walking towards 17 Carat, a store that sells basically anything anyone needs from apples to Zoo Books for low prices.

"I need to get office supplies." Minghao pulled the metal cart from the line of relatives and read signs to figure out his destination.

"Office Supplies are in isle 3." Jun pointed out.

"I knew that." Minghao backtracked out of the first isle. "I thought I saw something else I needed but I guess I'll get the office supplies first."

"Wouldn't it make sense to just get whatever you were getting in this?"

"No, I can grab it on the way back" Minghao threatened to run Jun over with the cart and finally shut him up.

"Whatever you say~" Jun dodged the foot coming towards him easily, "I'm just saying it would be easier to just take it now since you were already walking there."

"Did you follow along to tease me?" Minghao slouched over the cart rail the whole way over and Jun almost felt bad, almost.

"No, I didn't want to stay out there with Mingming. If you're just getting paper wouldn't it have made sense to just get a basket? Or you could have held it with your hands."

Minghao was setting a few stacks of paper into the cart, Jun took his place behind the bar, leaning over like Minghao was but in a much happier manner. "Jun if you're just going to bother me I'm leaving without you." He put a few pens in the cart too.

Despite the threatening voice he had earlier he still asked Jun if he had eaten.

"I ate some cereal before I called you."

"An hour ago..." Minghao noted, Jun's nod wasn't seen but Minghao knew.

"When did you eat?"

"2 hours ago." Minghao took the end of the cart and brought it towards the end of the isle then towards the register, hoping Jun forgot about the words he said just earlier.

"Didn't you have to buy another thing?" Jun came up next to him nonchalantly.

"Shut up." Minghao stepped on his toes. Jun made a grunting noise before using the cart as a crutch to get out. He leaned against the line of carts as he waited for Minghao, he didn't have to wait long though since all the other bought was paper and some pens.

"Why'd you take the cart?" Minghao said once he stepped out. Jun pushed himself off the metal carriers and shrugged.

"I felt like you didn't need it anymore, do you still need it?" He eyed the single plastic bag with a smirk.

"No, but I could have done it myself." He fiddled with the handles, slipping one inside the other in a braided pattern.

"You need to give up on thinking I won't do things for you." Jun wrapped his arm around the other's neck and lead them towards the car as if Minghao had forgotten where he parked.

"It's new to me," Minghao said, allowing the gesture, he even leaned his head onto Jun's shoulder a bit.

"What is? A relationship or someone doing something for you?" Jun let go of him so they could get in the car.

"You never asked me to be your boyfriend." Minghao teased, "I'm not used to people doing things for me."

"I asked you out on a date." Jun countered.

"That's a date, you never asked for a relationship." Minghao carried on his payback from earlier, starting the car as Jun thought hard about his statement.

"Oh, you know the flower lady?"

Minghao nodded, checking behind the chairs and the rear view mirror so he could back up without hitting anyone. "Her name is Mrs. Hana." He situated himself in his chair again and moved the shift to drive. "What about her?"

"She asked me about my favorite flower."

"What did you say?"

"Well, at first, I said that I didn't have one," Minghao made a disapproving noise, "What? I'm not a flower person." Minghao didn't say anything when he paused so the took it that he should finish, "I asked her if there was a popular yet uncommon flower."

There was an awkward pause for a while, "Oh am I supposed to guess what flower she suggested?"

"I wanna know what you think."

"Popular and uncommon huh? An interesting match of words." Minghao pursed his lips and bit the inside of his cheek, taking off a little if the inner skin. "Well there are a lot of simple flowers, but I'm guessing she gave you one that's white."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well when you get a flower, you kind of get it as an aesthetic type of thing, you know? Something to decorate with color, I don't know a lot of people that get white flowers unless they're for weddings. So getting a white flower is a pretty uncommon choice. You also said popular right?" Jun hummed in agreement, "Most people don't learn the name of flowers till they have a need for them." He paused for a good while, realizing how ahead of himself he was getting.

He cleared his throat, "So it's either she gave you a tulip or a rose, they're common and stuff. Some of the first flowers that come to mind for most anyone." Jun stayed silent for a while, how much did Minghao like flowers? The accuracy threw him off and he lost the plan he had earlier.

"I got it right didn't I?" Minghao smirked.

"How?"

"Well, I don't know if it's a rose or a tulip but I picked up a few things on flowers from helping her with her shop and everything. She loves talking about them, it's admirable really."

"It's a rose, now be quiet so I can think about what I was going to say earlier." Jun swatted his hand. Minghao took the chance to turn the music up.

Sadly, Jun couldn't remember before they got to Minghao's house or when they got all the groceries inside.

"Where do you put the-"

"I'm doing it," Minghao said, automatically taking the cereal boxed from Jun's hands and walking towards the closet near the door.

"Minghao, you could just let me do it, I mean you look like you're struggling." Jun held onto the ladder tightly, scared that Minghao might fall. "Oh my gosh" Jun groaned when Minghao jumped teasingly.

"Jun don't worry, I've done this a few times."

"A few?! Minghao-"

"Who are you?" A voice came from behind him. Jun slowly let go of the ladder and he heard Minghao's muffled voice reassuring him that he didn't need to hold the ladder in the first place.

"My name's Jun" He answered, "You must be Minghao's younger brother,"

"Jun, you're his boyfriend?" Jun smirked when he heard Minghao's protests coming from the closet.

"Well, soon." The words brought back the idea he had earlier. "Thank you for asking, though, I feel honored that you think that."

"Well, he talks about you all the time. Just yesterday he-" Minghao made a loud noise from the closet and scrambled down to stop his brother but the sudden movement made the ladder tip. Jun saw the shift and immediately grabbed it.

The action threw Minghao's balance off and he was falling backward. Jun extended his arms just in time but he wasn't prepared enough for Minghao's weight.

Minghao cradled Jun's head because he knew it was bound to hit the floor. He felt his fingers get squished between a skill and the tile. He ground his teeth together, "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, you?" Jun asked, his arms were wrapped around Minghao's waist, he held him there gently but Minghao wasn't trying to get out of the hold either way.

"I'm fine." They stayed like that for a while, none moving, Jun wanted to appreciate the moment because he knew Minghao would want to get out of his hold once he uttered the words.

"I remembered what I wanted to say in the car." Jun brought up the topic slowly, controlling the urge to hug Minghao closer just in case he wanted to move.

Thankfully, he stayed in the position. "What?"

"So you guessed a white rose, and that's supposed to be my favorite flower right?" Jun asked, still waiting for the perfect moment to tighten his hold.

"Yeah... Where's this leading?" Minghao took his hands out from under the skull but stayed in Jun's arms.

"Well, your favorite flower is the gentian right?" Jun tried to control his grin but Minghao saw his struggle.

"Oh hell, no Jun!" Minghao tried to get off but Jun happily locked his arms in place.

"In the bouquet, they looked really nice together." He continued.

"Jun! I get it shut up!" Instead, Jun shut him up with a small kiss, a simple one, barely long enough to register.

"I think we would look really nice together, so be my boyfriend." He pat Minghao's back as a forehead dropped against his shoulder.

"I should have never teased you about that oh my god" Minghao moped. Jun was just laughing, happy with the result.

2 Days Later

"Junhui." Minghao greeted the other at the door.

"Minghao" The answer style was repeated back to him which caused his eyes to roll.

"What are you doing here?"

"You said you needed help."

Another eye roll, "No, I said I was busy today."

"Can I help?" He tried again. Minghao thought about it for a while before shaking his head.

"Aw! C'mon Minghao I just want to do something nice for you."

"That's the problem. I still don't like when people do things for me, maybe next time." He began to close the door, "Or never." The click from the lock rung in Jun's ears.

He rang the doorbell once, he would repeatedly jam the button but Minghao didn't live alone, he had a brother and two parents.

He sighed and thought about what he could do.

"You're not working tomorrow right?" He sent.

"No." The reply came just as quick as he sent it. he wondered if Minghao knew he would text.

"Let's go on another date."

"Do you know where we're going to go this time? ￣ω￣" Jun glared at his phone, it was no use standing outside the door if Minghao wasn't going to open it for him again.

"Very funny. ￣︿￣ Of course, I know where we're going."

"I know, thanks. I laughed while typing it. Where are you taking me tomorrow?"

"Get Air." The engine of Jun's car made a clanking noise before efficiently starting.

"O_o there?"

"You don't want to go there?" Jun bit his lip, he thought Minghao would enjoy it.

"It's not that. I just wasn't expecting you to take me there. I didn't know you went there."

"There goes your stereotypes again →_→"

"Yeah, yeah. Get driving you're wasting your gas."

"How nice of you to be concerned. How did you even know? Are you watching me?" Jun looked out of his window but he didn't see any curtains moving. He's probably still at the door, looking through the peephole.

"Shut up and drive." The curt reply came.

"I like that song. I'll come around your house tomorrow at 4." Jun sent back with a smile before pulling away from the curb.

Next Day

At exactly 4:00 Jun rang the doorbell and Minghao opened the door.

"You were standing out here for 5 minutes just so you could ring the doorbell exactly at 4?" Minghao leaned against the doorframe, eyebrow as slanted as he was.

"Yeah," Jun agreed as if everyone did it, "but," he drawled out with his famous grin and Minghao made a mental note to never tease Jun, "If you knew that then you were standing behind your door for the same amount of time right?"

Minghao opened his mouth to deny, it was worth a shot, "You wish."

"You opened the door right when I rang the doorbell. I heard it ringing through your house."

Minghao looked down at his feet and straightened his posture.

Jun shook his head, "C'mon." He held his hand out. Minghao saw it in the corner of his eye. He took it gently but Jun's fist closed and he was being pulled towards the car.

"I haven't been to Get Air in a while..." Minghao admitted, thinking back to 4th grade.

"Me neither, the last time I went was probably 11 years ago."

"Won't it be weird being some of the oldest ones there?"

"I didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"It's a double date! With Hoshi and Jihoon."

"Soonyoung got Jihoon to go," Minghao repeated without confidence. Jihoon hated places with a lot of people. How much does he like Soonyoung?

"Yup!" Minghao nodded. He didn't know what to say so he hesitantly reached for the radio. He looked to Jun for clarification.

"You're listening to-"

"Welcome back-"

"Have you-"

"Krrrrrrr-"

The radio was shut off and Minghao sighed. "There's never any good radio stations." He leaned back in the chair.

"I have an aux." Jun motioned towards the glove compartment. He felt Minghao swatting his hands away.

"Keep your hand on the wheel, I'll find it." Minghao lifted several envelopes and papers before he finally found the tangled chord.

"You're going to finish untangling that when we get there. Just plug it in."

"At least, it'll be untangled whiled we're going back" Minghao concentrated on the white wire, pulling the metal end through the loops and under other parts.

"You're so weird."

"There's nothing weird with wanting stuff to be organized." Minghao defended, still working the tangled mess.

"Minghao you're frustrating me" Jun's laugh interrupted his sentence and Minghao made a frustrated noise.

"How often do you even use this thing?" Minghao almost got it.

"Whenever Soonyoung and I hang out, which hasn't been in a while since he's been hanging out with his boyfriend."

"I can't believe you didn't catch on to the fact he was trying to set us up."

"You didn't exactly figure it out either, he told you his plan."

"But he told you to go on a date with me. That should be enough of a hint." He finally got the cord untangled.

"... Shut up." Minghao followed the order gladly. He finally won an argument with the other. He fished his phone out of his pocket in triumph and looked for a victory song.

"I know the title of the song is 'Congratulations' but it doesn't really have the same meaning." Minghao rolled his eyes, he didn't feel like losing right after he won.

"I never said you had to change it but nice choice." Jun waited for the beat to drop before screaming at the top of his lungs, "AYO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!"

Minghao laughed before joining in on screaming the lyrics.

Day After

"What's this for?" Jun stopped mid-sentence when Minghao set a coffee cup on the table.

Minghao looked at Hoshi briefly. "Pretend I'm not even here Minghao." He leaned back in the chair, it didn't really help.

"SOONYOUNG GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE." All customers turned to look at Jihoon.

"Well, now you don't have to pretend." With a single raise of his eyebrows, he was gone.

"The Honey Tea is for yesterday, I had a lot of fun, so thank you." Minghao was blushing again and Jun was sure he would never get tired of the sight.

"You know, I take kisses as thank yous" Jun stuck his cheek out and tilted it towards Minghao not so subtlety.

"Jun," Minghao whined, a pout on his lips.

"I never said you had to." Jun took a sip of the drink, making sure he wouldn't burn any of his body parts.

"You're a jerk."

"A very special jerk" Jun stuck his finger in the air and took another gulp from the drink, a little too fast, though, the drink burned his tongue.

Minghao left while laughing, Jun heard him tell Hoshi to bring some napkins when he went back.

One Week Later

Minghao was sitting by himself. Usually, Jun walks in with Soonyoung when he comes to visit Jihoon but today Jun was nowhere to be seen.

Minghao immediately stood up to ask Soonyoung what was up.

"Jun got sick. He says he doesn't want to infect you." Minghao jutted his lip out. He thought back to what Jun might have gotten sick from.

"Tch, the candy. He ate mall candy a few days ago. I have no idea why." He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I told him not to."

There was the sound of clinking keys and Minghao was faced with the spare key Hoshi was given.

"Keep it, I feel like you need it more than me."

-

Minghao made sure the mask was set in the right place and the tea wouldn't spill before he entered.

"You took your time Hoshi-" Jun's cough interrupted his sentence and his eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he saw Minghao come through the door. "Minghao, why are you here?"

"Soonyoung told me you were sick." Minghao's voice came out muffled and he stuck his arm out to give the drink to Jun.

"You weren't supposed to come" Jun whined but Minghao ignored it.

"Well, I'm here. Drink your tea and rest." Minghao ushered him towards his bedroom. Jun was protesting the whole way but Minghao just shook his head.

"You ate and took medicine when?" He was tucking Jun into his bed like a mother, Jun decided to just enjoy it.

"Don't get mad but-" Minghao didn't have to hear the rest of the sentence, he was already out of the bedroom making some food.

"Love you!" Jun tried to call but it resulted in a coughing fit.

"Yeah, yeah, sleep till this is done! I'll wake you up when I'm ready."

Next Day

Minghao woke up on Jun's couch to his phone buzzing on the coffee table. He looked at the ceiling for a while, it didn't look like his room, there were no walls near him anywhere.

He sat up and grabbed his phone, closing his eyes when the head rush came. "Hello?" He wiped his eyes and looked around.

"Where are you?!" His brother's voice worried, Minghao remembered what happened.

"I'm at Jun's house. He was sick and I took care of him." He rubbed his face, turned off the television and grimaced when he realized his teeth weren't brushed.

He stood up to check on the sick body, he was sleeping peacefully and Minghao smiled.

"I'll be home soon, sorry for making you worry." He entered the bathroom and checked the drawers for a spare toothbrush.

"I forgive you, at least, you answered. Take your time." The end button was pressed and Minghao successfully found unused bristles.

He heard a creak come from Jun's room and stuck his head out of the bathroom. The disheveled boy walked down the hall and smiled when he saw Minghao.

"That's not my toothbrush is it?" The congested voice asked Minghao shook his head, spitting foam into the sink.

"I know I didn't ask but-" Jun held up a hand with his other one holding his head.

"It's fine. Thank you for taking care of me." Minghao moved Jun's hands away and replaced it with his own.

"You still have a fever." He touched Jun's neck gently, it still caused him to flinch.

"Your hands are cold" Jun laughed nasal the ends of Minghao's lips turned up slightly.

A sudden urge came up his chest and into his nose the tingling sensation became unbearable and he sneezed into his arm.

"I'm getting sick because of you." He rubbed his nose with his sleeve.

"Oh finally, now I can hug you freely," Jun smirked and brought him in. "Don't worry, I promise I'll take care of you once I get better."

"How sweet." Minghao let his head rest on Jun's shoulder if he was going to get sick why not just accept the embrace? "Let go, I need to go get some soup stuff. I made the last of your instant ramen yesterday."

"Just call someone to bring it to us." Jun held him tighter and dragged him out of the bathroom.

"Jun c'mon, you know I only have 4 contacts. Jihoon could be out with Soonyoung right now you don't want to ruin their date do you?" They landed on the bed and Minghao felt himself being cradled.

"Maybe just a little, if you think about it, they could just go together."

"Jun, I promise I'll come back soon and I'll stay the night again." He heard Jun bring the snot back into his nose.

"Soon. I'll be sleeping." Jun lifted his arm to free Minghao.

"Of course."

4 Days Later

"I can't believe you got better faster than me." Jun hugged his knees and watched Minghao spray the paint on the wall.

"Me neither, but then again, I didn't eat the gross candy from the mall." Minghao's hand was rested on his hip and he didn't know how else to decorate the new work.

"Touche."

"Have I ever asked you how you got so much money?" Minghao sprayed a small line across an expanse with precision.

"It's not a fancy story, when I was younger I was in a lot of movies and commercials, I get profit whenever someone buys the movies/products. Can I look now?"

"No, and do you have any copies? I wanna see them." The sound of pressurized paint leaving the can filled the brief silence before Jun answered.

"I don't think I have the commercials, there might be some online, and I only have one movie. I was in a small drama for a small amount of time." Jun thought back to his younger days, it was fun acting.

"You know, I usually don't trust actors." Minghao shook the can once to loosen the paint.

"So you don't trust me now that you know this?"

"I said usually. I trust you, you hadn't turned around this whole time. You can now by the way. I'm just saying that isn't it kind of weird that there are people who could fake emotions up on a screen so well? There's always a chance that they could be acting around you and you would never know.

It took Jun a while to realize he was granted permission to look at the art, he wrapped his arms around Minghao, not minding the wet paint that got on his hands when he intertwined their fingers. He looked at the white roses surrounding the single gentian. "Do you think that I'm faking my feelings right now?" Jun rested his chin on Minghao's shoulder, admiring how the sun reflected off parts of the wet paint.

"It crosses my mind that you'd leave me one day," Minghao admitted softly, smile unseen when Jun hugged him tighter, "I don't think you're faking your feelings, though." He laughed and turned around in Jun's arms. "I sure hope you aren't."

"Of course not." Jun leaned in for a kiss but Minghao turned his head and leaned back. Seeing Jun's broken expression he kissed Jun's cheek.

"No kiss till I see those films of you." He ran down the hill and towards the car.

"Wha-but Minghao!" Jun ran after him, almost falling in the process. Like usual, Minghao caught him and helped him make his way towards the car. "I think I'm getting better."

"I think you're still sick."

"Does that mean you'll take care of me again?"

"What's today?"

"Friday," Jun said regretfully, he knew what was coming.

"I have work today."

"Are you letting me drop you off?" Jun asked hopefully.

"Jun who's car are we using right now?"

"Yours..."

"So who's driving who to their house?"

Jun crossed his arms mumbling, "You're dropping me off at my house."

"Exactly. I've been sleeping at your house for 5 days! That's too much to ask for."

"Minghao, someone is going to marry you, and you'll be living with them, what are you going to do to then?"

"I won't let them drop me off at work."

"Why not?"

"That's doing something for me."

"Will you, at least, come back to my house after work?"

"Am I allowed to get some of my own clothes? I've been using your clothes and your food and your bed for the past 5 days. I need to get some of my own stuff."

"If it makes you feel better, yes." Jun unbuckled his seat belt when Minghao parked.

"Are you coming by the coffee shop today?"

"If I get a kiss," Jun smirked, tilting his cheek. Minghao blushed and leaned in, allowing his lips to graze a cheek before pulling away.

"Until I see the videos~" He remembered.

"You're unfair."

"Don't you love it?"

"Charming." The door slammed and Minghao softly glared at Jun through the dark glass before continuing his way to get his clothes for the week to come.

-

Minghao sat in his room, wondering how much he should bring and what exactly to bring. He wasn't the type to plan out his outfits before, so it was unlike him to pick out a whole weeks worth of clothes. He groaned and threw another shirt to the floor.

"Minghao are you okay?" His mother called from the hall.

"Uhh... yeah I'm fine..." He ran his hand through his hair, should he bring a hat?

"Are you moving in with that boyfriend of yours?" His mom immediately began to fold the scattered clothing. "I'm sure these all look fine on you. You're not throwing them out are you?"

"Moving?" Minghao asked he knew he was going to cry, he always cried when it came to this conversation.

"Yeah, you've never slept over at someone's house before, it surprised me when your brother said you were at your boyfriend's house. I was even more surprised when you came back only today!" She was smiling, Minghao surprised himself at the sudden realization.

"I'm not crying..." Minghao said, feeling his cheeks just to make sure.

"You're not." His mother confirmed. He looked at her with an open smile. She smiled back at him. "I think you're going to need a bigger bag."

-

Minghao couldn't keep the smile off of his face. Knowing he was able to hold himself together brought a warm feeling to well up inside of him. Seeing his drawers empty and putting all his belongings in the car got to him a little, but he was still able to come to work with a smile on his face.

Jihoon raised his eyebrow when he saw the cheerful guy, "Not saying it's a bad thing, but why are you smiling so much?"

"It's gone!" Minghao cheered, tying on his apron gracefully.

"Okay Cinderella, what's gone." Jihoon threw the damp cloth in Minghao's general direction.

"My anxiety. I was able to sleep at Jun's house for the past 5 days Jihoon. My brother had to call and ask where I was."

Jihoon's lips thinned into a line, he didn't look so happy. Minghao's face fell and he turned to see the problem.

"Mingming... What would you like to order?"

"I would like to talk to you Minghao."

"Oh. Oh I uh..." He looked to Jihoon. The shorter simply nodded and shooed him away, taking his spot at the counter. Slowly, the two made their way out of the cafe. Jihoon kept them in sight as much as he could from behind the counter.

-

"What did you want to talk about?" Minghao asked although he could have figured it out on his own.

"Jun. How is he?" Mingming asked, it sounded so sincere. Minghao smiled and looked up at the sky.

"He's great really. A cheesy ball of grease but I guess it's something I like about him. He's always full of ideas for dates and he does the most outrageous stuff-"

"That ends up making you take care of him..." Mingming finished. Minghao looked at the other, confused.

"Do you really still love Jun?"

"No, I don't. I'm sure he still loves me, though." Minghao's heart stopped, as well as his feet. Mingming stood in front of him and smiled.

"He hesitated when he told me he didn't love me. Hesitation means he had to think about it."

"He wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it," Minghao said, a little less than confidently.

"Has he told you he's an actor?" Mingming asked.

"Yes..."

"He's a very good actor, have you seen any of his movies?"

Minghao shook his head slowly, heartbeat picking up its pace, "We were going to watch some later today."

"He's a great actor you know, able to deceive the viewers. How do you know he's not deceiving you?"

Minghao thought back to earlier that day

"Do you think that I'm faking my feelings right now?" Jun rested his chin on Minghao's shoulder, admiring how the sun reflected off parts of the wet paint.

"It crosses my mind that you'd leave me one day," Minghao admitted softly, smile unseen when Jun hugged him tighter, "I don't think you're faking your feelings, though." He laughed and turned around in Jun's arms. "I sure hope you aren't."

"Of course not."

"I'll never know for sure, all I can do is hope."

"You have that much hope in Jun?" Mingming took a step closer but Minghao didn't back down. Mingming's eyes wavered the slightest bit.

"He helped me overcome something. If he was able to do that, I'll have as much hope in him than I have in myself, maybe even more."

Familiar arms wrapped around him and a specific scent filled his nose as he was spun around and pressed into a chest. A great, comforting chest that he's never thought second about sleeping on. "Jun." He smiled, taking in the moment. "How did you know where to go?"

"Jihoon told me. You know, he glared at me for a while, telling me that you were able to handle it on your own. I still got it out of him, though, I guess you've helped me overcome my fear of him." The smiled at each other and they could have stayed like that but Mingming cleared his throat.

"Mingming." Minghao turned to face him, the task came with difficulty since Jun refused to let him out of his grip. The other was most likely not taking him seriously since arms were wrapped around his was and a chin was on his shoulder but it didn't stop him from finishing his sentence.

"I know you can change into someone better than this, this isn't the Mingming Jun fell in love with that time ago."

He felt Jun tighten his grip and he watched the features on Mingming's face soften.

"When you're able to bring that Mingming back, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone that you'll truly fall in love with." They stared at each other for a long time, but Minghao saw the smallest nod come from the other. "I have to go now, see you around?"

"When I've changed," Mingming promised.

-

Minghao was closing up the shop, punishment from Seungcheol since he didn't inform him about the shift switching. It was okay, though because Jun stayed with him. Just as the door closed he found arms around him once again, Jun's favorite thing to do.

"Minghao I love you." Jun nuzzled his face into the crook of Minghao's neck.

"I know. I love you too Jun." Minghao brought his hand up to play with Jun's hair, he stared into the shop, the black windows held their reflection and Minghao couldn't help but find it sweet.

"Do you know why I love you?" Jun swayed them gently. Minghao hummed. "Because you're a precious cinnamon roll too good for this world. You need someone to protect you or else you'll get eaten by all the bad people."

Minghao laughed and turned in Jun's embrace, changing it to his favorite way to hug, face to face. He leaned up slowly to give a gentle, savory kiss. "It'll be easy to protect me if I'm living with you right?"


End file.
